On October 14, the Spanish Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated ruling on the case against 12 Catalan leaders for their role in the 2017 referendum on Catalan independence. Nine were sentenced to between 13 and 9 years in prison; three more were sentenced to 18 months. The charges included sedition, misappropriation of government funds, and civil disobedience. Oriol Junqueras, the former vice president of Catalonia, received the longest sentence, 13 years, while eight other former Catalan ministers received sentences of 10–12 years and two civil society leaders, known as “the Jordis,” received nine years—all close to the maximum permitted by law.Related link: Spain’s Catalonia Crisis Just Got a Lot Worse
The leader of the Spanish opposition party Ciudadanos on Sunday demanded Madrid impose direct rule in Catalonia after days of separatist protests, as he led a pro-Spain counter-demonstration in Barcelona.
Albert Rivera, the head of the centre-Right party, called on Spain’s Socialist Party government to end the “chaos”, suspend Catalonia's autonomy and remove its president, Quim Torra, from office.
“Torra must be sacked. What are they waiting for when there is an article in the Constitution that allows for this?” Mr Rivera said to a crowd of some 2,000 people.
He was referring to Article 155, which allows for Madrid to intervene in autonomous communities deemed to be acting unconstitutionally or against Spain's interests. It was first enacted in Catalonia to remove the government of Carles Puigdemont after the banned independence referendum of October 2017.
While Saturday saw a significant reduction in the level of violence on the streets of Barcelona, there are no signs of any political will among Spanish political leaders to engage in dialogue with Mr Torra’s pro-independence administration.
According to sources from the Catalan government, Mr Torra has repeatedly tried to telephone Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in recent days, but his calls have not been answered.
Mr Torra made several calls for calm during last week’s disturbances, but he also referred consistently to “infiltrators” as being responsible for the violence. In response, Mr Sánchez criticised the Catalan leader for “downplaying” the violence and its effects.
The Sánchez government insists that it is dealing with the protests in a firm but proportional manner, and has so far rejected calls from opposition figures such as Mr Rivera and conservative Popular Party leader Pablo Casado for a tougher line.
Ahead of a general election in Spain on November 10, Mr Casado too has pledged to impose Article 155.
The measure was applied for seven months in 2017 and 2018 after the referendum and subsequent declaration of independence from Spain, but Mr Rivera and others are suggesting a longer and more profound period of intervention to purge the regional authority.
Related link: The Telegraph - Call for direct rule in Catalonia over separatist 'chaos'
