Pro-independence Catalan leaders are pressing ahead despite an emphatic warning from King Felipe VI. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said he would declare independence at the end of this week or the beginning of next.
The king branded Sunday’s referendum illegal and undemocratic. But correspondents said his failure to acknowledge the violent repression of the vote has fired up rather than deterred independence supporters.
Meanwhile, Spain’s high court has summoned the head of Catalonia’s regional police force to testify as a suspect in a investigation of alleged sedition – inciting rebellion against the state.