Catalans declare independence as Spain gets power to strike

Mariano Rajoy called for calm immediately after the vote in Barcelona as crowds swelled in number in support of independence

Catalonia’s parliament voted to declare an independent state, setting up a dramatic confrontation with Spain as the government in Madrid was granted the power to seize control of the insurgent region.

The resolution approved by lawmakers in Barcelona said the establishment of Europe’s newest sovereign country had been set in motion. The portion of the text submitted to a vote included measures to ask all nations and institutions to recognise the Catalan Republic.

Meanwhile in Madrid, the Spanish Senate approved measures giving Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy the power to oust the rebel leaders and take over the Catalan administration via Article 155 of the 1978 constitution.

“The Catalan Parliament has approved something that in the opinion of the great majority of people doesn’t just go against the law, but is a criminal act because it supposes declaring something that is not possible,” Rajoy said.

Catalonia’s tumultuous push for independence reached its climax with regional President Carles Puigdemont squeezed by the irreconcilable demands of his own hardliners and authorities in Madrid. In the past 48 hours, the Catalan leader sought to avoid the chaos of an illegal secession without provoking anger among his base, to no avail.

Spain’s 10-year bonds dropped, with the spread against benchmark German bunds widening by seven basis points to 119 basis points. The country’s benchmark stock index, the Ibex, fell 1.4 percent, all but erasing Thursday’s gain when it looked like all-out declaration of independence might be avoided.

“We constitute the Catalan Republic, as an independent and sovereign country, under the rule of law,” Catalan parliamentary speaker Carme Forcadell read out before the secret ballot. Separatist lawmakers broke into the Catalan anthem after the vote, which was boycotted by opposition parties.

Rajoy called for calm immediately after the vote in Barcelona as crowds swelled in number in support of independence.

“The clash is here and it won’t be pretty,” Antonio Barroso, a political risk analyst at Teneo Intelligence in London, said in an email to clients.