Leaders of the Catalan separatist party, ERC, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists have reached a preliminarily agreement on forming a new regional government in Catalonia, according to ERC spokesperson Raquel Sans.
Salvador Illa, whose Socialists won 42 seats in the recent regional elections, could potentially become Catalonia’s new leader. This would make him the first Catalan Prime Minister in a long time to oppose the northeastern region’s independence from Spain.
However, the agreement still needs to be approved by the ERC's members.
A consultation will take place on Friday. Should the deal be rejected, new elections would need to be arranged.
The main contender in that scenario would be the second-largest separatist party, Junts, led by exiled former Prime Minister, Carles Puigdemont.
