Tension in Spain as Catalonia declares independence; Madrid moves to sack regional govt.

In what appears to be a daring move, the Catalan parliament has cast their votes to declare independence from Spain.

The voting, which was carried out on Friday afternoon had seventy lawmakers vote in favour, ten voted against, while two cast blank ballots, in what many perceive as a rare constitutional crisis.

Although, the names of the Catalan lawmakers who voted for independence is yet to be made public, but the Spanish government has vowed to deal with those who have voted in favour of the independence, treating them as “Rebels”.

During the special plenary in the Catalan parliament, Carles Riera from the far-left Popular Unity Candidacy party asked that the declaration be voted upon.

“We take this step on our feet, with our heads held high. Not on our knees like subjects, but as free people without fear,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the Spanish government has triggered Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish constitution, which allows Madrid to suspend, sack any form of regional government and administer the law on the breakaway region.

Spainish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of People’s Party (PP), said Catalan President Carles Puigdemont “was the one who decided to continue moving forward with the process for applying Article 155. It was he and only he.”

“The thing that threatens Catalonia is not Article 155, but [the Catalan government],” Rajoy said.

On October 1, 2017, Catalans voted in a disputed independence referendum that was ruled illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court and met with police violence, which was condemned by rights groups and European leaders.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont announced independence on October 10, but suspended the declaration after eight seconds to encourage dialogue with Madrid, which never held.

 

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