Spanish government rules out Catalonia's self-determination

Spain's acting government on Saturday ruled out possible talks with Catalonia that includes the right to self-determination, as authorities from that northeastern European region claim.

'We are not going to talk about what you cannot talk in a democracy,' Spanish Vice President Carmen Calvo told reporters on Saturday, before attending a rally of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) in Barcelona.

Asked about the central government's refusal to open dialogue with Generalitat of Catalonia President Quim Torra, the vice president defended that position if his 'commitment' is to break up the territorial unit of Spain and separate Catalonia.

'No democracy has the possibility of breaking the rules of the game unilaterally,' said Calvo, who insisted that the right to self-determination 'does not exist either in this democracy or anywhere.'

Calvo, who is the number-two official in the administration of Social Democratic leader Pedro Sanchez, said that the government is willing to talk about 'everything else' with its peer from the rich northeastern autonomous community.

'President Torra will have to understand that there are things that cannot be part of what is not possible,' she emphasized.

The vice president reacted to a message issued on Saturday by the independence leader, who said that 'exercising the right to self-determination has no return.'

According to Calvo, the PSOE is the only party that can guarantee in Spanish democracy that Catalonia adjusts to the constitutional model.

She stressed that the Sanchez government did not disconnect from the problems of that autonomy of 7.5 million inhabitants, and respected its institutions.

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