Politics
17:16, 19-Oct-2017
Spanish government to press ahead with suspending Catalonia’s autonomy
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The Spanish government announced on Thursday it will press ahead with suspending Catalonia’s autonomy after Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont threatened to explicitly declare independence if no talks are held.
Puigdemont made the remarks in a letter he sent to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy minutes before a deadline by Madrid to abandon his independence bid expired at 10 a.m. local time.
"The Spanish government will continue with the procedures outlined in Article 155 of the Constitution to restore legality in Catalonia's self-government," Rajoy said in a statement.
The Spanish cabinet will meet on Saturday to discuss the Catalan crisis, according to the statement.
Madrid had given Puigdemont a three-day grace period to back down on his push for secession after he failed on Monday to clarify whether or not he had declared independence last week following a disputed referendum.