Spain-Catalan standoff facing tense deadline
BARCELONA — Catalonia’s lawmakers meet in Barcelona Thursday for a session many fear will lead to a unilateral declaration of independence by the region facing a takeover from Madrid for its secessionist push by week's end.
On a day that could make or break already tenuous relations between Spain and its wayward northeastern region, the 135-member Catalan parliament, in which separatists hold a majority, is set to meet from 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) to formulate a plan.
At the same time, a senate committee will gather in the Spanish capital to work on a blueprint for seizing the region's institutions, police, and finances unless it backs off from independence ambitions. Both parties were standing firm. "The government is not giving us any option other than defending the civil liberties of citizens through the best institutional instruments," Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueres told Spanish television Wednesday.
Spain's Justice Minister Rafael Catala insisted an independence declaration "will have no legal validity," though it will have "consequences from a criminal point of view."
Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont called an urgent brainstorming meeting with his cabinet, majors and pro-independence civil groups late Wednesday, which was expected to run into the morning, Catalan media said.
The worst political crisis in Spain in decades was sparked by a "Yes" vote in a banned October 1 referendum on independence for the semi-autonomous region which accounts for 16 percent of Spain's population and 20 percent of its economic output.
The region of 7.5 million people is fiercely protective of its language and culture and has long struggled for autonomy —which was restored after the repressive 1939-1975 rule of dictator Francisco Franco.