Madrid and Barcelona have hardened their stances ahead of a deadline to retract Catalonia's independence bid. PM Mariano Rajoy has threatened direct rule, but Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said he wouldn't back down.
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As the clock runs out on a new deadline for Catalonia to clarify its ambiguous independence declaration, leaders in Madrid and Barcelona showed no signs of ceding their positions.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he will impose direct rule in Catalonia unless regional leader Carles Puigdemont retracts the "suspended" declaration of independence he made last week by 10 a.m. (0800 UTC/GMT) on Thursday.
Catalonia - stay or go now?
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"All I ask of Mr. Puigdemont is that he acts with good sense," Rajoy told the Spanish parliament in Madrid on Wednesday.
In Barcelona on Wednesday night, Puigdemont told members of his Catalan Democratic Party that he would move forward with a more formal independence declaration if Spain's central government took steps to suspend Catalonia's autonomy.
"The president said [at] his party's meeting that he will lift the suspension of the independence declaration if the government executes Article 155," a Catalan government source told Reuters news agency.
Article 155 of Spain's Constitution from 1978 allows the central government to take over any of the country's 17 autonomous regions should they break the law. Spain's Constitutional Court had previously ruled that Catalonia's October 1 referendum was illegal.
Puigdemont declared on October 10 that Catalonia had earned the right to become an independent republic, but he suspended the implementation of independence and called for dialogue with Madrid. However, Rajoy says the central government will not negotiate until the Catalan president drops his demand to break away, which is illegal under the Spanish constitution that calls for the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation."
Crisis in Catalonia
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Spain holds its breath
There are concerns that any move to impose direct rule over Catalonia could inflame tensions in a political standoff that has already sparked massive street rallies across Spain, slashed growth forecasts, and shaken Spain's European Union neighbors.
Rajoy maintains that Catalonia's government repeatedly broke the law by holding its banned independence referendum on October 1 and then issuing its suspended declaration of independence.
Spain lowers growth forecast
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Puigdemont, on the other hand, says that a violent police crackdown and arrests of pro-independence leaders are evidence that the Spanish government is becoming more authoritarian. Speaking on Monday, he called for talks with the government in Madrid.
With its own culture and language, Catalonia is proud of its autonomy, but its 7.5 million inhabitants are divided over independence from Spain.
Catalan leaders claim that its referendum resulted in a 90-percent "Yes" vote, but voter turnout was only at 43 percent, as many who oppose independence stayed away from the polls.
rs/jm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Catalonia's independence movement — a brief history
The desire of many Catalans to gain independence from Spain has a long history. The region has experienced varying levels of autonomy and repression over the centuries.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Rich ancient heritage
Catalonia has been settled by the Phoenicians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, who were mainly in the coastal areas of Rosas and Empuries (above). Then came the Romans, who built more settlements and infrastructure. Catalonia remained a part of the Roman Empire until it was conquered by the Visigoths in the fifth century.
Image: Caos30
Counties and independence
Catalonia was conquered by Arabs in 711 AD. The Frankish king Charlemagne stopped their advance at Tours on the Loire River and, by 759, the north of Catalonia was once again Christian. In 1137, the counties that made up Catalonia entered an alliance with the Crown of Aragon.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archiv
Autonomy and the war of succession
In the 13th century, the institutions of Catalan self-administration were created under the banner of the Generalitat de Catalunya. After the unification of the Crown of Aragon with that of Castile in 1476, Aragon was largely able to keep its autonomic institutions. However, the Catalan revolt — from 1640 to 1659 — saw parts of Catalonia ceded to present-day France.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Remembrance of defeat
After the conquest of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, by the Bourbon King Phillip V, Catalan instuitutions were dissolved and self-administration came to an end. Every year, on September 11, Catalans commemorate the end of their right to autonomy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Gene
Federal ideas in wider republic
After the abdication of King Amadeo I of Spain, the first Spanish Republic was declared in February 1873. It lasted barely a year. The supporters of the Republic were split – one group supporting the idea of a centralized republic, the others wanting a federal system. Pictured here is Francisco Pi i Maragall, a supporter of federalism and one of five presidents of the short-lived republic.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Failed attempt
Catalonia sought to establish a new state within the Spanish republic, but this only served to exacerbate the differences between republicans, ultimately dividing and weakening them. In 1874, the monarchy and the House of Bourbon (led by King Alfonso XII, pictured here) took the helm.
Image: picture-alliance/Quagga Illustrations
Catalan Republic
Between 1923 — with the support of the monarchy, the army and the church — General Primo de Rivera declared a dictatorship. Catalonia became a center of opposition and resistance. After the end of the dictatorship, the politician Francesc Macia (pictured here) successfully pressed for important rights of autonomy for Catalonia.
The end of freedom
In the Second Spanish Republic, Catalan lawmakers worked on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. This was approved by the Spanish parliament in 1932. Francesc Macia was elected president of the Generalitat of Catalonia by the Catalan parliament. However, the victory of Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) put an end to all that.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Loss of liberties
The Franco regime ruled with an iron rod. Political parties were banned and the Catalan language and culture were surpressed.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
New autonomy by statute
After the first parliamentary elections that followed the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Generalitat of Catalonia was provisionally restored. Under the democratic Spanish constitution of 1978, Catalonia was given a new Statute of Autonomy just a year later.
The new Statute of Autonomy recognized the autonomy of Catalonia and the importance of the Catalan language. In comparison to the 1932 statute, it was enhanced in the fields of culture and education but curtailed when it came to the realm of justice. Pictured here is Jordi Pujol, the long-time head of the government of Catalonia after the dictatorship.
Image: Jose Gayarre
Stronger self-awareness
A desire for independence has grown stronger in recent years. In 2006, Catalonia was given a new statute that broadened the Catalan government's powers. However, it lost these after a complaint by the conservative Popular Party to the Constitutional Court of Spain.
Image: Reuters/A.Gea
First referendum
A referendum on independence was already envisaged for November 9, 2014. The first question was "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" In the case of an affirmative answer, the second question was posed: "Do you want this state to be independent?" However, the Constitutional Court suspended the vote.
Image: Reuters/G. Nacarino
Clash of the titans
Since January 2016, Carles Puigdemont has been president of the Catalan government. He proceeded with the separatist course of his predecessor Artur Mas and called the new referendum for October 1, 2017. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed this as unconstitutional.