Catalonia’s deposed President said he might consider a solution to Spain’s political crisis that did not involve the region’s secession, appearing to soften the staunchly pro-independence stance that cost him his leadership last month.
In an interview with Belgian daily Le Soir , Carles Puigdemont was asked if a non-secessionist option was on the table to resolve a crisis triggered when Spain took over control of the region after its Parliament declared independence on Oct. 27.
“I’m ready, and have always been ready, to accept the reality of another relationship with Spain ... It (another solution) is still possible,” Mr. Puigdemont said. “I have, being pro-independence all my life, worked for 30 years to have another way of Catalonia being anchored to Spain,” he added, giving no details of what form such a relationship could take.
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Mr. Puigdemont, who had previously insisted the independence declaration should form the basis of any political negotiations with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is in self-imposed exile in Belgium. He is under conditional release after an international arrest warrant was served against him.