MADRID—Spanish authorities’ efforts to stop Catalonia’s independence referendum by arresting separatist leaders and confiscating ballots appear to have diminished the prospect that millions of Catalans will formally vote on Oct. 1, but that doesn’t mean a crisis has been averted. Leaders on both sides of the bitter divide expect hundreds of thousands of separatists to protest if they aren’t able to cast their vote. Pro-independence leaders might declare Catalonia an independent republic regardless of how any vote...

Source: Wall Street Journal September 23, 2017 10:52 UTC