The Spanish government will administer Catalonia directly from Madrid subject to approval by the Senate, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said at a press conference. He added that Madrid wants to curb the powers of the Catalan parliament. Rajoy declared on Saturday that the government wants to dissolve the Catalan parliament and call a snap election to restore order in the region. He said Madrid is not... 

Exit polls show that separatist parties are winning a majority of the votes in Catalonia’s regional elections. The local elections are described as a quasi-referendum on separation from Spain. The potential victory for the pro-independence parties in the regional parliament will be setting the region on a collision course with Spain’s central government over independence. The main secessionist... 

Anti-abortion supporters try to display a banner with air balloons reading “Every life matters” during a march in Madrid. Tens of thousands of people have held a rally in the Spanish capital city of Madrid, calling on the government to revive a plan to limit women’s access to abortion. The protesters from across the country marched through the city on Saturday and waved white flags... 

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria says the Catalan region cannot be granted the right to self-determination. The Spanish official made the remarks in parliament on Tuesday, a day after more than two million people took part in an independence vote in Catalonia. “The right to self-determination that you demand... 

Polls have closed in Catalonia where people have held a symbolic independence vote despite the Spanish government’s opposition. According to the regional Catalan government, almost two million people took part in the independence polls, which opened at 9 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) and closed at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Sunday. The regional government had earlier said that 5.4 million Catalans and resident... 

Catalans are holding a massive, symbolic regional independence vote this weekend, in defiance of the Spanish government’s ban. The polls look set to draw upward of 1.5 million people, to whom the vote is now about freedom of expression. Artur Mas, the Catalan president, has remained defiant in the face of the exceedingly draconian bans by Madrid on any show of support for secession. The Catalan... 

The Spanish Council of State has ruled that a new planned symbolic referendum on independence in the Catalonia region is illegal, saying it backs a veto of the vote. A spokeswoman for the council said Thursday that the consultative body decided that the government should ask the Constitutional Court to declare the November 9 referendum as unlawful. The council made the ruling after receiving a request... 

The Spanish government has taken the first steps to block Catalonia’s new vote on independence which is scheduled for next month. On Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy requested the Council of State’s opinion on Catalonia’s “consultation of citizens,” which the region intends to hold next month instead of a full independence referendum. On October 15, Catalan regional president... 

The Catalan government says it will push ahead with its scheduled plan to hold an independence referendum, despite a Spanish Constitutional Court order to suspend the vote. Catalan President Artur Mas established a seven-member committee late on Thursday to supervise the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain which is due to be held on November 9. Earlier on Wednesday, the creation of... 

Spain’s Constitutional Court decided Monday that Catalonia has no right to vote for its independence. The independence referendum planned by Catalonia’s President for this November was unanimously suspended by 12 judges. Speaking in a televised address after an emergency cabinet meeting Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he regretted Catalonia’s president Artur Mas’s decision... 

The president of Catalonia, Artur Mas, has signed a decree calling an independence referendum for Nov. 9. The secessionist drive of the Spanish region has been rebuked by Madrid, which vowed to block the vote. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called a government meeting Monday that is expected to provide a legal response to Barcelona’s announcement. Madrid plans to challenge the vote in... 

Catalan President Artur Mas says a vote on the region’s independence from Spain will be “impossible” to stop even if Madrid is against the referendum. “If the Catalan population wants to vote on its future, it’s practically impossible to stop that forever,” Mas said in an interview on Wednesday. He said the Spanish government should realize that it cannot stand... 

Juan Carlos, the king of Spain, plans to abdicate, according to the country’s prime minister. A new constitutional amendment will reportedly be proposed to allow for the abdication. Crown Prince Felipe is to become the new monarch. Spain’s King Juan Carlos is abdicating after almost 40 years on the throne and his son Prince Felipe will succeed him, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday... 

The Catalan regional parliament has set November next year for a referendum on the Spanish province’s independence. The government in Madrid blandly said the vote won’t happen, but activists wonder how it might be stopped. Catalonia’s four pro-independence parties, which hold a majority in the regional parliament, announced Thursday that the rich industrial Spanish province will hold a referendum... 

Europe’s main human rights watchdog has warned that Spain’s austerity program could have a devastating impact on children, as cuts have increased child poverty, malnutrition and inadequate housing. Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, published a report on Wednesday based on a visit to Spain earlier this year. He called on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s...