MEMBERS of Catalonia’s largest pro-independence party were welcomed by the SNP to Westminster – to compare notes on fighting “intransigence from governments in London and Madrid”.
SNP MP Seamus Logan met with members of the Junts party – which is an abbreviation of the Catalan for “Together for Catalonia” – in the UK Parliament last week.
Present at the meeting were Albert Batet, the leader of Junts’s parliamentary group, Anna Navarro, Francesc de Dalmases and Aleix Sarri.
Logan said: “I had the pleasure of meeting with Albert and Anna at their Parliament on a trip to Barcelona in September last year and so was very pleased to return their excellent hospitality with an invitation to join myself and my colleagues at Westminster.
“This opportunity to further cement relations with the Junts continues a strong tradition of support for the independence movement in Catalonia from the SNP at Westminster.
“I was delighted that so many of my parliamentary colleagues were able to attend this meeting, to exchange knowledge and share experiences in the face of intransigence from governments in London and Madrid.”
Junts were founded in 2020 by Carles Puigdemont, who is in exile in Waterloo, Belgium – the party is pro-Catalan independence and has forged links with the SNP.
Puigdemont fled the Spanish authorities in 2017 after a referendum ruled unlawful triggered a constitutional crisis in the region.
Last week, the former Catalan president warned there was “a real risk of rupture” if the ruling Socialist party failed to keep its promises to Junts, who have propped up Pedro Sanchez’s government since 2023.
Crucially, Puigedemont wants guaranteed immunity from arrest over his role in the 2017 referendum, fearing he will be imprisoned if he returns to Spain.
Logan said there were “many parallels” between the campaigns of both Catalan nationalists and the SNP.
He said: “They are keen to rebuild trust with the electorate after a drop in support for independence at last year’s Catalan election and cement their position both in the parliament in Barcelona and in Madrid as well as building positive relationships with other independence-supporting parties.
“The big difference between our referendum experience and theirs of course is the persecution of voters and blatant aggressive infringements of their civil and human rights by the Spanish authorities.”
Logan added that the party was facing “persecution” in “more subtle” ways from the Spanish authorities, including denying the Catalans “democratic autonomy, their culture and language and delaying tactics on these governmental pledges”.
He said: “I hope that we will get the chance to continue these important discussions and shared mutual respect as both our independence movements reassert their common cause.”
