A plan by pro-independence parties to make a jailed independence activist the new Catalan president is staunchly opposed by the Spanish government, which has warned it could respond by extending its direct rule of the region. Pro-independence parties have scheduled a symbolic vote on Thursday in the Catalan parliament to underline their support for ousted president Carles Puigdemont to return to the post. In October, Madrid took the unprecedented step of sacking Mr Puigdemont and his entire cabinet and introducing direct rule. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), the smallest separatist party in the Catalan parliament, expressed disappointment at Mr Sánchez’s candidacy on Wednesday. It has proposed that the chamber “reaffirm and reiterate” the unilateral declaration of independence the Catalan parliament made in October.

Source: The Irish Times February 28, 2018 18:24 UTC