Spain’s Socialists Say Talks Advancing With Catalan Separatists

(Bloomberg) -- Spain's Socialist party said it made progress in a second round of talks with Catalan separatist parties Esquerra Republicana and PSC as it seeks support to form a government.

The sides will reconvene for a further round of negotiations Dec. 10, the Socialist party said in a statement posted on Twitter. Both sides had reached common ground on themes including civil and labor rights and that the issue of Catalan separatism must be solved politically, the party said in its statement.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is courting the parties because the support of their deputies could be key to his ability to form a central government after his Socialists won the most parliamentary seats but fell well short of a majority in elections held Nov. 10.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charlie Devereux in Madrid at cdevereux3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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