FRANCO RULEFranco ruled Spain with an iron fist from 1939 to his death in 1975, and among other repressive measures took Catalonia's powers away and banned the official use of Catalan language. Cautious, though, Puigdemont did not once say the word "independence" as Spain and the rest of the European Union waits to see if he will carry out his threat to declare a breakaway state. "We are applying Article 155 because the government of a democratic country cannot accept that the law is ignored." Separatists of all political stripes, from Puigdemont's conservatives to the far-left, have dominated the Catalan parliament since the last elections in 2015, holding 72 seats out of 135. Prosecutors said Saturday they would take former journalist Puigdemont to court for "rebellion" if he makes any attempt to declare independence, a crime punishable with up to 30 years in jail.

Source: Daily Nation October 22, 2017 03:22 UTC