Catalan leader urges strong response to Spain
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia's separatist leader wants the regional parliament to debate and vote on how to respond to what he called the Spanish government's "attempt to wipe out" Catalonia's autonomy.
In a televised address late Saturday, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont called plans by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to replace him and his Cabinet an "attempt to humiliate" Catalonia and an "attack on democracy."
Puigdemont's comments were a veiled threat to push ahead with an independence declaration for the prosperous region in northeastern Spain. They came after he joined a large protest in Barcelona on Saturday where many were aghast at the plans announced earlier in the day by Rajoy.
Puigdemont called Rajoy's move the "the worst attack" on Catalan people and institutions since Gen. Francisco Franco's abolishment of Catalonia's regional government in 1939.
Earlier, the speaker of the Catalan parliament says Spain's central authorities have made an effective "coup d'etat" in what she called an "authoritarian" attempt to take control of the northeastern region.
Legislator Carme Forcadell says in Barcelona that Spanish Prime Minister "Mariano Rajoy has announced a de facto coup d'etat with the goal of ousting a democratically elected government."
Forcadell said the move is "an authoritarian blow within a member of the European Union."
Rajoy's conservative government is likely to obtain the national Senate's backing next week for extraordinary powers that will allow him to dissolve the Catalan parliament and call an early election. The measures include the sacking of Catalonia's separatist leaders.
Rajoy said the regional parliament will have its powers limited, but will remain in place until new lawmakers are elected in less than six months.