This petition in English, Spanish and Catalan, asks the Spanish and Catalan governments for de-escalation and constructive dialogue, to explore in good faith solutions to the existing political conflict.
Initially signed by 250 international scholars and also by secessionist and non-secessionist Catalans and Spaniards on October 23, the complete list of signatories is being updated daily.
This petition was written in October, in the middle of a worrying escalation in the conflict, when violent riots emerged in Barcelona and other towns of Catalonia, alongside the peaceful demonstrations, as a reaction to the Spanish Supreme Court Judgment that sentenced some Catalan leaders to sentences of 9 to 13 years of prison. The signatories of this petition showed their concern at these riots as well as the growing frustration of many people in Catalonia and the rest of Spain who saw that the only strategy implemented by the Spanish government to solve this political conflict was basically its judicialization. The riots have fortunately decreased or vanished, even if mobilizations and demonstrations continue week after week. But the results of the last elections on November 10, and the pre-agreement between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias, leader of the left-wing part Unidas Podemos, make this public petition for negotiation more urgent and necessary than ever. It is time for talk and negotiation to take a turn.
