Leader’s independence threat forces Spain to call cabinet meeting

Catalonia: Semi-autonomous powers will be removed

Spain is to hold a special Cabinet meeting at the weekend to activate measures to take control of Catalonia’s semi-autonomous powers after the region’s leader threatened to explicitly declare independence if no talks were offered.

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont’s warning came in a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy with minutes to spare before the expiry of a deadline set by the central government for him to backtrack on his calls for secession.

“If the central government persists in impeding dialogue and continuing its repression, Catalonia’s parliament will proceed ... with a vote to formally declare independence,” Mr Puigdemont’s letter said.

Spain’s government quickly responded with a statement saying it was calling a special Cabinet session for tomorrow in which it would trigger the process to activate Article 155 of Spain’s Constitution. It allows for central authorities to take over the semiautonomous powers of any of the country’s 17 regions, including Catalonia.

The Cabinet meeting will “approve the measures that will be sent to the Senate to protect the general interest of all Spaniards”, the statement said.

The measure has never been used in the four decades since democracy was restored at the end of General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

Spain’s government needs to outline the exact measures it wants to apply in Catalonia and submit them for a vote in Spain’s Senate.

Catalans would consider the application of the measure an “invasion” of the region’s self-government, while Spain’s central authorities have portrayed it as an undesired move, yet a necessary one, to restore legality after Mr Puigdemont’s government pushed ahead with a banned referendum that violated the country’s constitution.

More than 40% of Catalonia’s 5.5 million eligible voters cast ballots in the illegal referendum on October 1 as police used violence to try to enforce a court order to stop it from going ahead. Opponents boycotted the vote.

The separatists declared an overwhelming victory despite the boycott by opponents and on the grounds that it was illegal and lacked basic guarantees such as an independent electoral board.

Picture: AP. A woman wearing an estelada or independence flag walks along a street covered with referendum ballots following the vote.

Picture: AP. A pro-union protester’s sign outside the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the building that houses the Catalonian presidency.