HIGHWAY TO EL
Catalan leader calls for ‘peaceful’ resistance as Spain takes control
A unity protestor faces riot police arrest on Monday over Friday’s ‘illegal’ declaration of independence after Catalan MPS’ 70 to 40 vote in favour of a republic – boycotted by the opposition.
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The move was the final straw for Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy who fired Puigdemont along with his Cabinet and Catalonia’s chief police officers and seized control of the troubled region.
He plans to hold a new statecontrolled regional election on December 21. Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said if Puigdemont refused to abandon his office Madrid would act with “intelligence and with common sense”. Asked what might happen if the Catalan leader faced prosecutors, he said: “No one is above the law.”
But Spain faces a rough ride in this constitutional crisis. Independence activists have vowed to form human chains around
But Puigdemont vows to stay buildings to protect officials, and around 200,000 civil servants have said they will not accept orders from Madrid. One Catalan union has called a 10-day strike in support of the new republic starting on Monday. Meanwhile celebrations of the ‘independence’ were still going on last night. Mum Olga Amargant, 45, and her daughter Sara, seven, were draped in the Catalan flag. Olga said: “I want Spain to think about our democracy. We voted for this. That should be respected.” Monica Vaz and Nuria Valle, both 17, added: “People are full of hope.” emily.retter@ trinity mirror.com