Catalonia

Spain’s state prosecutor has called for Catalonia’s leaders to be charged with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds over their push for independence.

Attorney-General Jose Manuel Maza said he had filed two lawsuits seeking the prosecution of the ousted Catalan cabinet and the regional parliament amid mounting tensions following this month’s referendum.

Catalonian police were seen entering government buildings in Barcelona on Monday morning, as the region faced into its first work week since Spain's central government overturned an independence declaration by firing the region's elected leaders, The Telegraph reported.

At times of great ethno-nationalist mobilizations in Catalonia, it may be informative to briefly review the recent history of the Catalan issue, and to attempt to characterize the conflict.

The Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel dismissed the suggestion by Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Franken, that the country could give political asylum to the leader of the Catalan separatists, Carles Puigdemont, in front of RTBF TV.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of a unified Spain filled Barcelona's streets on Sunday in one of the biggest shows of force yet by the so-called silent majority that has watched as regional political leaders push for Catalan independence.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz  de Santamaria takes over the management of the Catalonia area after Madrid took its autonomous status yesterday and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy fired the regional government, the agencies said, reports sega. 

The Catalan parliament on Friday afternoon declared the region's independence from Spain. Members of this parliament decided in a secret ballot - boycotted by the opposition.

The Catalan parliament voted to launch a constitutional separation process from Spain with 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 invalid - according to the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia.

The Spanish government has stripped Catalonia's most senior police officials of their powers, hours after direct rule was imposed on the region, BBC reports.

The regional parliament of Catalonia decided to separate the area from Spain and to declare the Catalan Republic, Reuters reported.

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday evening that Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence had no legal effect, as far as Serbia was concerned.