Spanish PM could seize control of separatist Catalonia by invoking untested law
Article 155 of the country’s constitution has never been used before, and says Madrid can take necessary measures to oblige it forcibly to comply or to protect said general interest
As Madrid braces itself for a possible independence declaration by the separatist leader of Catalonia, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has refused to rule out imposing direct rule over the region from Madrid.
To do that he would need to invoke Article 155 of Spain’s constitution – a provision that has never been used before, and one that could open a Pandora’s box of legal and social headaches.
Thanks to its constitution, adopted in 1978 after decades of civil strife followed by dictatorial rule, Spain is one of the Western world’s most decentralised nations.
It has 17 semi-autonomous regions with varying degrees of control over issues such as education and health care.
Catalans voted on October 1 in a referendum outlawed by the courts, which ruled that any vote for self-determination violated the constitution.