SPAIN will hold a weekend Cabinet meeting to invoke the measures needed to effectively end self-government in the independence-seeking state of Catalonia.
The move came after Catalan President Carles Puigdemont wrote to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy minutes before a deadline set by the Madrid government for him to backtrack on calls for negotiations on secession.
In his letter, Puigdemont warned that his decision to suspend a vote on independence following the October 1 referendum could be revoked if no talks were offered.
“If the central government persists in impeding dialogue and continuing its repression, Catalonia's parliament will proceed ... with a vote to formally declare independence,” his letter read.
Madrid responded with a statement saying it was calling a special Cabinet session for Saturday in which it would trigger the process to activate Article 155 of Spain's constitution – the so-called “nuclear option”, which has never been used in the four decades since democracy was restored at the end of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
This allows for central authorities to take over the semi-autonomous powers of any of the country's 17 regions, including Catalonia.
The meeting will “approve the measures that will be sent to the Senate to protect the general interest of all Spaniards”, the statement said.
Spain’s government must outline the exact measures it wants to apply in Catalonia and submit them for a vote in the Madrid Senate.
Catalans will consider the application of the measure an “invasion” of the region's self-government, but the Spanish government has portrayed it as an undesired, yet necessary move, to restore legality after Puigdemont’s government pressed ahead with an indyref that Spain branded as illegal.
More than 40 per cent of Catalonia’s 5.5 million eligible voters managed to cast their ballots in the October 1 poll as police used brutal violence to try to enforce a court order to stop it from going ahead.
Catalan officials declared an overwhelming victory – more than 90 per cent of those who managed to beat policed blockades and attacks voted Yes.
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