Spain’s King Felipe has intervened dramatically in the crisis over Catalan leaders’ bid for Independence, accusing them of threatening the country’s stability and urging the state to defend “constitutional order.”
The 49-year-old king abandoned his previously measured tone over tensions with Catalonia on Tuesday as the standoff dragged the country into its deepest political crisis in decades.
Meanwhile, the President of Catalonia’s devolved Government said his region will declare Independence within days, warning if the Spanish Government intervenes or arrests him, it could be ‘the definitive mistake’. We’ll find out what that means.
King Felipe spoke after hundreds of thousands of Catalans rallied in fury at violence by police against voters during a banned referendum on independence for their region on Sunday. Catalan regional leaders held the vote in defiance of the national Government which brands it illegal — as did Felipe on Tuesday.