MADRID—Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Dec. 12 he would stand firm against what he called “inflammatory” Catalan separatist rhetoric, hardening his stance towards the region and upping the stakes in a broader political game.
Sanchez has adopted a more open approach towards Catalonia’s pro-independence leaders than his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, ousted in a no-confidence vote in June and whose government took control of the region for several months after it unilaterally declared independence in October 2017.
