Spain’s Pedro Sanchez hardens position on Catalonia ahead of election
Prime minister says he could apply direct rule to the region if separatists repeat their 2017 independence bid
Madrid — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who faces a national election in two weeks’ time, says he will act with “strength and proportion” against any attempt by Catalan separatists to repeat their 2017 independence bid. Catalonia’s failed attempt to secede from Spain and Madrid’s approach to the region has become the defining issue ahead of the April 28 election, in which polls show a coalition of right-wing, unionist parties could seize a majority in parliament. “If we see the laws of the constitution or the statute of autonomy in Catalonia broken once more, the state of law led by this government will act with strength and proportion against any challenge,” Sanchez said in an interview published in Hoy newspaper. In such an event, Sanchez suggested he could apply direct rule to Catalonia, repeating the decision of former prime minister Mariano Rajoy who took over the regional government during the secession crisis in 2017.
“It’s an article of the constitution. And we ...
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