Madrid, Catalans accuse each other of breaking off talks

Spain's socialist government and Catalonia's separatist executive on Friday accused each other of breaking off negotiations aimed at easing the secession crisis. The mutual accusations came after Madrid's latest proposal for talks caused an uproar among the right-wing opposition and some socialist leaders who accused the government of making concessions to separatists who run the Catalan government and thus yielding to their "blackmail". The issue is sensitive in Spain where many reject any leniency towards Catalan separatist leaders who still want independence like their predecessors who tried to secede in October 2017, while Madrid stresses dialogue is crucial to ease tensions. "This proposal was an attempt to set the dialogue in an ordered, rigorous way, and with conviction," Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told reporters. She said "it was not accepted" by Catalan separatist parties. "For the moment the situation is stalled." She added that separatist parties were asking the government to agree to holding an independence referendum, something which she said would "never be acceptable." "When two parties have positions that are so irreconcilable, then you just have to stop.