Raül Romeva

The crisis in Spain dramatically deepened and extended across the Continent after eight Catalan ministers were jailed by a court in Madrid and a European arrest warrant was issued to extradite the region’s disputed president Carles Puigdemont from Belgium on charges of rebellion and sedition.

The EC says that its position on Catalonia remained unchanged after Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy said the Constitution's Article 155 would be triggered.

The Spanish government is to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy and impose direct rule after the region’s president refused to abandon the push for independence that has pitched Spain into its worst political crisis for 40 years.

The overwhelming majority of Catalans who participated in the banned referendum have voted in favor of independence from Spain, the Catalan government has announced.

The regional parliament of Catalonia approved a plan on Nov 9 to set up a road map for independence from Spain by 2017, in defiance of the central government.