MADRID (dpa-AFX) - The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked lawmakers to grant him unprecedented power to remove the leaders of Catalonia and temporarily control the region from Madrid.
Rajoy on Saturday said Spain's central government ministries would administer the region's agencies until new elections are called, a shake-up meant to quell Catalan leaders' insurrection.
The prime minister will seek to convene regional elections within six months to bring in new leadership and put an end to Catalan leaders' repeated defiance of the central government. The measures will focus on oversight of security, public order and financial management, the central government said. It will also seek to restrict Catalan lawmakers' ability to approve some laws. During the past two months, separatist regional lawmakers approved an unauthorized vote on secession and later signed an independence declaration.
The region enjoys significant autonomy and officials in the government of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont oversee the region's own police force and health and education systems.
Rajoy demurred when asked how the central government would ensure that Mr. Puigdemont and his 13 cabinet members would obey the order.
Puigdemont and members of his cabinet appeared several hours later at a pro-independence rally in Barcelona that became a mass protest against the central government's move.
Afterward, Mr. Puigdemont said that he would ask Catalonia's parliament to convene in the coming week to map out a response to the central government's proposed measures.
The central government is also seeking to administer Catalonia's finances. Madrid already seized control of most of the regional government's spending power in the run-up to the referendum to prevent Catalan officials from dedicating public funds to the independence vote.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX