Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he wants his country’s senate to give him direct power to dissolve the regional Catalan government and to call an early election as soon as possible.
Rajoy said after meeting with his cabinet on Saturday that the central government needs to take the unprecedented step of assuming control of Catalonia to “restore order” in the face of a secession effort backed by the regional government.
He is proposing that the powers of Catalan officials be taken over by central government ministers.
Rajoy’s government is activating a previously untapped constitutional article to take control of Catalonia.
The move is aimed at blocking the independence movement that has gained pace since a disputed Oct. 1 referendum on separating Catalonia from Spain.
Officials in Catalonia says regional leader Carles Puigdemont plans to join an afternoon protest before delivering a speech in response to the Spanish government’s decision to take over the regional cabinet’s functions.
Protests resume in Barcelona
In the streets of Barcelona, banging pots and pans and honking cars greeted Rajoy’s announcement.
Catalan activist groups called for another protest Saturday in Barcelona over the jailing of two pro-independence leaders who are being investigated on possible sedition charges.
A damaged Estelada, the Catalan flag of independence, hangs from a balcony in Barcelona on Friday. The Spanish government wants to hold regional elections over Catalan independence in January. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
A national court judge had Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, the heads of grassroots organizations Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural, preventatively held on Monday.
At the national level, Pablo Echenique, a secretary in the far-left Podemos party, vowed to work to oust Rajoy and his conservative Popular Party.
Pro-business Ciudadanos (Citizens) party president Albert Rivera says he supports the announced measures to heal divisions created by the Catalan independence movement and to provide the security companies need to remain in Catalonia.
Rajoy’s cabinet was meeting to outline the scope and timing of the measures the government plans to take under Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. The section allows central authorities to intervene when one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions fails to comply with the law.
It’s never been used since the 1978 constitution was adopted, but Rajoy’s conservative government says establishing direct control over Catalonia was a move of last resort.
The goal is “the return to legality and the recovery of institutional normalcy,” the prime minister said on Friday.
Rajoy could force the removal of Catalan officials and call early regional elections for as soon as January. Such actions are expected to spark angry opposition from supporters of independence and moderate Catalans who will see them as an attack on their autonomy.
The slow-burning constitutional crisis over secession escalated this month when regional government officials claimed the referendum gave them a legal basis for separating from Spain.
The country’s constitutional court has so far ruled against all moves toward secession, including the controversial referendum. The court’s website appeared to be offline Saturday, and a spokeswoman said it had been affected by vandalism of unknown origin.
Spain’s National Security Department had warned of potential digital vandalism Friday and said slogans supporting independence for Catalonia had popped up on a number of government websites.
The constitutional court spokeswoman said Saturday only the court’s website was not working and no internal information was compromised. She requested anonymity in line with internal rules.
The referendum vote itself was marred by sporadic violence as police took action to shut down some polling locations. The central government says the results have no legitimacy.
