Agreement between Madrid and Catalonia stalled, Spain could intervene militarily

As the clock passes on a new deadline for Catalonian to clarify his vague declaration of independence, leaders in Madrid and Barcelona have shown no signs of the interruption of their positions, reports “Deutsche Welle”, Periscopi broadcast.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he will establish direct rule in Catalonia, if regional leader Carles Puigdemont does not withdraw the statement of “pesorated” of independence he made last week by 10:00 local time Thursday.

“All I ask from Puigdemont is that he must act positively”, Rajoy said, addressing Spain's MPs Wednesday in Madrid.

In Barcelona late Wednesday, Puigdemont told members of the Catalan Democratic Party that he will move forward with a more formal declaration of independence if the central government of Spain takes steps to suspend Catalonia's autonomy.

The president said his party meeting would lift the suspension of the independence declaration if the government implements Article 155,” said a source of Catalan government for Reuters news agency.

Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution from 1978 allows the central government to take over any of the country's 17 autonomous regions if they violate the law. Spain's Constitutional Court had prejudged that the October 1st Catalonia referendum was illegal.

Puigdemont said on October 10th that Catalonia had won the right to become an independent republic, but suspended the implementation of independence and called for dialogue with Madrid.

However, Rajoy says the central government will not negotiate until the Catalan president gives up his bid for Catalonia's independence, which is illegal under the Spanish Constitution requiring the intrepid “of the Spanish nation”.

Rajoy claims that the Catalonia government has repeatedly broken the law by holding the independent independence referendum on October 1st and then by issuing a declaration to suspend independence.

Puigdemont, on the other hand, says that a violent police crackdown and arrests of pro-independence leaders are evidence that the Spanish government is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Speaking Monday, he called for talks with the government in Madrid.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Barcelona on Tuesday to protest the imprisonment of two Catalan separatist leaders pending an investigation into rebellion charges. /Periscopi/