Catalan president Quim Torra moved from Geneva to Zurich by train on Thursday, where he met with the canton’s president, Thomas Heininger. During the meeting, the Catalan leader explained the political situation in the country, and delivered a report on the consequences of Spanish police violence on referendum day last October.

The two officials also agreed to stay in close contact when it comes to economic, cultural and academic issues. According to Torra, they also both agreed on the fact that the canton of Zurich and Catalonia are “comparable as countries.”

In exile

Before meeting with Heininger, Torra also met with Anna Gabriel and Marta Rovira, two former MPs in the country seeking refuge from Spain’s judiciary.

Speaking to the press on the train from Geneva to Zurich after the meeting, the Catalan president expressed mixed feelings about seeing them. “As always, when I visit those colleagues who are in exile, I get that feeling that, here they are free, while in Spain they would be in prison” he said.