The new pro-independence speaker of Catalonia's parliament on Thursday started meeting party representatives to pick a regional president, with exiled former leader Carles Puigdemont in the lead for the post.
Spain's Senate on Friday authorized the government to apply constitutional measures to take control of the government of Catalonia. A majority of senators gave Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy the go-ahead through Article 155 of the constitution to apply unprecedented measures, including sacking Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont and his cabinet. It also authorized him to curtail Catalan parliamentary powers.
Catalonia’s separatists weighed their options Sunday ahead of a week that will see Spain take the drastic step of sacking the region’s government as well as calling fresh elections to try and stop the country breaking up.
Rallies are expected in Spain against Catalonian independence, after Sunday's disputed referendum. Demonstrations are planned in Madrid and other cities, with supporters calling for a similar rally in Catalonia's capital Barcelona.
Catalonia is to hold a referendum on independence in a year’s time in a move that will infuriate Madrid but which should also return power to the pro-indy campaign in the regional assembly. President Carles Puigdemont told the Catalan Parliament yesterday: “We will look for an agreement (with central government) until the very end, we will at every moment work with the will to hold a referendum in agreement with the state.
A fiercely secessionist leader was elected president of the wealthy region of Catalonia thanks to a last-minute show of unity, giving fresh impetus to attempts to break away from Spain after months of infighting. The appointment of Carles Puigdemont, just hours before a deadline which would have forced fresh regional elections, drew an immediate rebuke from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on Monday his government would file an appeal with the Constitutional Court to ensure that an independence declaration backed by the Catalan regional parliament has “no consequences”, he told a news conference.