spain seizes control of independent catalonia
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Replacing Its Executive And Top Officials

Spain seizes control of 'independent' Catalonia

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Spain seizes control of 'independent' Catalonia

Huge celebrations erupted in Barcelona as the Catalan parliament
Madrid - AFP

Spain moved Saturday to assert direct rule over Catalonia, replacing its executive and top officials to quash an independence drive that has pushed the country into uncharted waters and sent shock waves through Europe.

As thousands rallied in Madrid in support for Spanish unity, a government notice officially deposed regional leader Carles Puigdemont and his deputy Oriol Junqueras.

The announcement placed Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria in charge of administering the region.

It is the first time the central government has curtailed autonomy in the region since dictator Francisco Franco's repressive 1939-75 rule.

Madrid also fired regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero, seen as an ally of Catalonia's separatist leaders, and put the interior ministry in charge of his department in a move likely to further escalate tensions in Spain's worst political crisis in decades.

A day after Catalan lawmakers voted to break with Spain, the regional and national flags still fluttered side by side over the seat of the Generalitat, the name for the regional government.

 

The streets of Barcelona were largely empty after a night of firework-lit celebrations, and security was reinforced around the regional headquarters of the national police.

Some 3,000 people gathered on Madrid's central Plaza Colon, waving the Spanish flag as loudspeakers blared the popular song "Y viva Espana" (long live Spain).

A small child was pushed by its father in a buggy sporting a sign proclaiming: "Together", and some in the crowd wave placards calling for Puigdemont to be jailed.

"It is a shame what happened in Catalonia," lamented anti-secessionist protester Carlos Fernandez, a 41-year-old mining engineer.

- Competing rallies -

Moving to quash what he termed an "escalation of disobedience", Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy responded to Friday's Catalan vote by assuming sweeping powers granted to him by the Senate under a never-before-used constitutional article designed to rein in rebels among Spain's 17 regions.

He fired the government and parliament and called December 21 elections to replace them.

On Saturday, Rajoy added Trapero, the highest-ranking officer in the Mossos d'Esquadra police force, to the list of heads to roll.

Trapero is accused by Madrid of disobeying court orders to block a banned October 1 independence referendum.

Instead, the ballot was disrupted, sometimes violently, by officers from Spain's national police and Guardia Civil paramilitary forces.

All eyes this weekend will be on whether Puigdemont and his team will willingly step aside for caretaker envoys from Madrid. Puigdemont has not spoken out publicly since Rajoy's announcement.

Saenz de Santamaria is due to meet Saturday with secretaries of state who will likely take charge of Catalonia's regional ministries.

- 'Force of argument' -

The move to usurp Catalonia's wide-ranging powers is likely to anger many in the region of some 7.5 million people that enjoyed considerable autonomy, with control over education, healthcare and police.

Independence supporters have warned they will resist the temporary measures.

"We won't cave in to Rajoy's authoritarianism nor to 155," the far-left CUP party, a Puigdemont ally, tweeted on Friday.

A motion to declare Catalonia a "republic" was passed Friday with 70 votes out of 135 in the regional parliament, where pro-secessionists hold sway. Opposition politicians had stormed out in protest before the vote was cast.

Catalan leaders point to a "Yes" result in the deeply-divisive October 1 referendum as a mandate for independence, even though less than half of registered electors turned out.

Summarising widely-held fears, Federico Santi, Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, warned the crisis could become violent, with "more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists."

The Spanish government has received unwavering support from the United States and its allies in the European Union.

The bloc is increasingly wary of nationalistic and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain's dramatic decision last year to leave the bloc.

Source: AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

spain seizes control of independent catalonia spain seizes control of independent catalonia



GMT 06:11 2012 Tuesday ,13 March

Nina Dobrev\'s feminine LBD

GMT 09:23 2019 Monday ,19 August

Live an important and happy atmosphere

GMT 16:54 2013 Monday ,16 September

Al-Jazeera\'s Zeidan lectures at AA News Academy

GMT 09:01 2017 Thursday ,01 June

Sisi lauds relations between Egypt, Uruguay

GMT 07:22 2011 Wednesday ,06 July

Karachi Stock Exchange rises

GMT 00:36 2016 Tuesday ,27 December

Abbas condoles with Putin over plane crash victims

GMT 01:00 2012 Saturday ,07 July

Why Can’t All Parents Have More?

GMT 08:05 2017 Tuesday ,29 August

Khalid bin Hamad tournament prizes approved

GMT 10:44 2018 Monday ,15 January

Bitcoin fever hits US real estate market

GMT 08:05 2018 Friday ,12 January

US revamps travel warning system, ranks countries

GMT 08:23 2017 Monday ,06 February

Moroccans Spent MAD 9.4 Billion in Gambling in 2016

GMT 18:50 2018 Wednesday ,10 January

Assad forces killed 85 civilians in Eastern Ghouta: UN

GMT 12:37 2013 Tuesday ,11 June

Chevrolet announces UK launch date for Camaro

GMT 14:25 2016 Saturday ,25 June

Car bomb kills four in Libya's Benghazi

GMT 06:55 2015 Thursday ,26 February

Qatar's emir meets number of US congressmen

GMT 18:25 2016 Thursday ,13 October

129 civilians killed in Aleppo raids, clashes

GMT 11:42 2014 Sunday ,01 June

Mansouri to open Business Forum

GMT 10:46 2012 Sunday ,18 March

Dusty, sandy weather to affect visibility

GMT 15:34 2011 Friday ,18 November

UN :Climate change key driver of extreme weather

GMT 11:13 2014 Wednesday ,03 September

Exhibiton of American classic antique cars
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday