WITH Cataluña’s planned independence referendum now less than two weeks away, Madrid continues to increase efforts to prevent it from taking place. Over 700 of the region’s 948 mayors were summoned to appear in court on Tuesday after confirming that they would help to stage the referendum in their municipalities.
This week central government took control of the Catalan regional government’s finances after regional leaders failed to heed a deadline to call off the planned October 1 vote, declared illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court.
