Separatists spark election

no-confidence vote for the exact same reasons that we have had to maintain our position (against) his budget bill,’’ said Eduard Pujol, a leading member in Catalonia’s regional legislature. ‘‘You cannot govern Spain without listening to Catalonia.’’

Separatists forces showed their strength on Saturday when tens of thousands rallied in Barcelona to demand a non-guilty verdict for 12 of their leaders, who are on trial in Spain’s Supreme Court for their roles in a failed secession attempt in 2017. Barcelona’s police calculated that 200,000 people joined the march.

The front line of marchers held a long banner saying in Catalan ‘‘self-determination is not a crime.’’

While they claim that Catalonia has a right to self-determination, Spain’s government says any vote on independence would require the national Parliament to amend the Constitution.

Polls point to a fragmented political spectrum that will leave a future Spanish government in need of cobbling together partners for a coalition government.

That means Catalonia’s separatists could still hold leverage, especially if Sanchez’s Socialists need their votes to stay in power. – AP As India considers its response to the suicide car bombing of a paramilitary convoy in the disputed region of Kashmir that killed dozens of soldiers, a retired military commander who oversaw a much-lauded military strike against neighbouring Pakistan in 2016 has urged caution.