Spanish government sets final deadline: Thursday 10am
Mariano Rajoy ignores Puigdemont’s call for a meeting and mentions that he is ready to implement the Constitutional provision to suspend Catalonia's self-rule
The march toward the suspension of Catalonia's self-government continues. It will probably reach its finish line on Thursday, despite the Catalan president’s calls for dialogue. The Spanish executive reacted to Carles Puigdemont’s letter by sending another request activating a second and final deadline for him to “rectify” if he wants to stop dramatic measures against Catalonia from being taken. Thursday 10am is the final deadline set by Madrid.
Rajoy responded to Puigdemont with another letter saying that the latter “had not clarified whether any Catalan government institution has declared the independence of Catalonia.” Thus he said that this second request is for his counterpart to clarify that matter, and make an about-face if that were indeed the case. "Otherwise, you will be the only person responsible for the application of the Constitution," said Rajoy, referring to Article 155 in the Spanish Constitution, which provides the circumstances under which Madrid can take control of the self-rule of any Spanish territory, such as Catalonia. “It is still in your hands to open a new period of normality and institutional loyalty that the whole world is demanding,” Rajoy added.