Spain Moves to Seize Control of Catalan Government, Call Regional Elections
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy seeks to use measures to quell a push for independence in Catalonia
BARCELONA—Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked lawmakers to grant him unprecedented power to remove the leaders of Catalonia and temporarily control the region from Madrid, a forceful move aimed at bringing the separatist movement to heel.
Mr. Rajoy on Saturday said Spain’s central government ministries would administer the region’s agencies until new elections are called, a bold shake-up meant to quell Catalan leaders’ insurrection.
The prime minister will seek to convene regional elections within six months to bring in new leadership and put an end to Catalan leaders’ repeated defiance of the central government. The measures will focus in particular on oversight of security, public order and financial management, the central government said. It will also seek to restrict Catalan lawmakers’ ability to approve some laws. Separatist regional lawmakers approved an unauthorized vote on secession and later signed an independence declaration.
The region enjoys significant autonomy and officials in Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont’s government oversee the region’s own police force and health and education systems.
During a press conference, Mr. Rajoy demurred when asked how the central government would ensure that Mr. Puigdemont and his 13 cabinet members would obey the order.
Immediately after Mr. Rajoy announced the measures, a Catalan government spokesman said Mr. Puigdemont would attend a pro-independence rally in Barcelona that is now likely to become a mass protest against the central government’s move. Afterward, Mr. Puigdemont is expected to make a statement at 9 p.m. local time.
One of the targets of Mr. Rajoy’s proposed measures is Catalonia’s police force, a prized symbol of regional power. The 17,000-strong regional police force, known as the Mossos D’Esquadra, resisted Madrid’s orders to halt the referendum on independence earlier this month. A judge seized the passport of the Mossos chief earlier this week amid a sedition probe. The regional force has said the investigation is based on false accusations.
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The central government is also seeking to administer Catalonia’s finances. Madrid already seized control of most of the regional government’s spending power in the run-up to the referendum to prevent Catalan officials from dedicating public funds to the independence vote.
Catalonia Vice President Oriol Junqueras said on Twitter that Mr. Rajoy and his allies “have not only suspended [Catalonia’s] autonomy. They have suspended democracy.”
The measures Mr. Rajoy announced Saturday were hammered out in recent days with leaders from two of the main oppositions parties, said the premier, a sign of the widespread political support for his bid to halt the Catalan independence drive. Spain’s Senate, where Mr. Rajoy’s center-right Popular Party has a majority, is likely to approve the measures in a vote on Friday.
The prime minister is invoking a two-sentence article from Spain’s constitution that hasn’t been used since the document was approved by Spaniards in 1978, during the country’s transition to democracy after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco. Summoning the sweeping powers of Article 155, Mr. Rajoy said Saturday, was a last resort.
“The government had to apply” the provision, Mr. Rajoy said during televised remarks. “We are applying this article because no government, I insist, no government in any democratic country can accept that the law is ignored, that the law is violated.”
Many Spaniards have watched bewildered as authorities in Catalonia, one of the country’s wealthiest regions, have pressed ahead in their bid to secede. A majority of Catalonia’s 7.5 million inhabitants don’t support independence, recent polls show.
Mr. Rajoy said he was obliged to invoke the untested powers of Article 155 after Mr. Puigdemont and other officials in the region staged the referendum on independence on Oct. 1, in which they said a majority of the two million people who turned out voted in favor of secession amid clashes with Spanish police.
Mr. Rajoy put the onus for Spain’s worst political crisis in decades squarely on Mr. Puigdemont and other separatist leaders. The premier said he chose to disregard calls from some lawmakers to strip Catalonia of some of its powers as soon as regional officials made moves in early September to hold the referendum. “We preferred to act, as I think should be done in such cases, with prudence, responsibility and common sense, trying to bring about a rectification” from Catalan officials, Mr. Rajoy said. “They didn’t respond.”
Mr. Puigdemont has insisted the results of the vote bound him to declare independence from Spain, which he did on Oct. 10, only to suspend that proclamation moments later. He called for dialogue with the central government, despite Mr. Rajoy’s refusal to negotiate the secession of Catalonia.
Mr. Puigdemont faces his own internal political challenges, overseeing a coalition of lawmakers who are united in their bid for independence but disagree on best way to achieve it, and the Catalan leader could harden his stance following Mr. Rajoy’s announcement. Mr. Puigdemont told party members last week that Catalonia’s regional assembly, where separatist lawmakers hold a majority of seats, could move forward with a unilateral declaration of independence if the prime minister invokes Article 155, underscoring the difficult and uncertain months that lay ahead for Spain.
State prosecutors could intervene in the meantime. Mr. Puigdemont has acknowledged he could end up in prison for the steps he has taken to create an independent Catalonia.
While the legal steps that Mr. Rajoy is set to take could serve to momentarily rein in Catalan leaders, support for a split with Spain among voters in the region is unlikely to fade. Around 35% of Catalans support independence, according to the most recent poll this past summer by the region’s survey agency.
Regional elections won’t necessarily herald greater stability. Separatist lawmakers could increase their representation in the regional assembly, some pollsters say.