Catalonia’s political leaders intend to bring a legal challenge to prevent the Spanish government from removing them from office and taking over running the region to stop its push for independence, a spokesman has said.
The ruling Catalan separatist coalition has said the regional parliament will hold a meeting on Thursday which many fear will become a cover for a vote on declaring independence from Spain.
Spain is to hold a special Cabinet meeting at the weekend to activate measures to take control of Catalonia’s semi-autonomous powers after the region’s leader said he would formally declare independence if no talks were offered.
Spain’s deputy prime minister has said that Catalonia’s leader did not give an adequate response in his letter about the region’s independence and has until Thursday to comply with the country’s laws. Carles Puigdemont’s letter, issued two hours before a Monday deadline, did not clarify whether he in fact declared Catalonia’s independence from Spain. He called for talks with Spain’s government.
A Spanish judge has remanded two key members of the Catalan independence movement in jail. Jordi Sánchez, who heads the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), and Jordi Cuixart, leader of Omnium Cultural, are being held without bail while they are under investigation for sedition.
The Spanish government will seize control of Catalonia if regional leader Carles Puigdemont gives an ambiguous reply to Madrid’s question about whether he has declared independence from Spain, the interior minister warned Saturday.
Catalonia’s leader faced mounting pressure on Friday from all sides, with hardliners in the separatist movement demanding he declare independence from Spain once and for all. Spain’s government and the European Union, on the other hand, want him to abandon the secession plans altogether.