BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – The Latest on the fallout after Catalonia’s independence referendum (all times local):
11 a.m.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed that his government will not allow Catalonia to break away from the rest of the country.
Demonstrators shout slogans, some of them holding a banner reading in Catalan “disobedience to the bad government”, as they gather near a headquarters of federal police in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday Oct. 8, 2017. Demonstrators gathered early in Barcelona on Sunday ahead of a march to show support for the Spanish union and call on Catalonia not to declare independence. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais published Sunday, Rajoy said “Spain is not going to be divided and the nation’s unity will be maintained.”
Rajoy says that he will consider employing any measure “allowed by the law” to stop the region’s separatists.
He says that includes considering the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which would allow the central government to take control of the governance of a region “if the regional government does not comply with the obligations of the Constitution.”
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has said he will push ahead for independence after the “Yes” side won a disputed referendum on secession that Spain’s top court had suspended. Less than half the electorate of the region participated in the vote last Sunday.
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10:50 a.m.
Hundreds of people are gathering in downtown Barcelona ahead of a rally to protest the Catalan government’s push for secession from the rest of Spain.
Many in the crowd forming in a central square are carrying Spanish and Catalan flags.
Sunday’s rally comes a week after separatist leaders of the Catalan government held a referendum on secession that Spain’s top court had suspended and the Spanish government said was illegal.
The referendum was won by the “Yes” side, though less than half of the region’s electorate voted. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has pledged to push ahead for independence.
Nobel Literature Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and former president of the European Parliament Josep Borrell are expected to address Sunday’s rally.
Demonstrators hold Spanish flags as they gather near a headquarters of federal police in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday Oct. 8, 2017. Demonstrators gathered early in Barcelona on Sunday ahead of a march to show support for the Spanish union and call on Catalonia not to declare independence. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A demonstrator wearing a Spanish flag hugs a national police officer during a gathering in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday Oct. 8, 2017. Demonstrators gathered early in Barcelona on Sunday ahead of a march to show support for the Spanish union and call on Catalonia not to declare independence. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Demonstrators wave Spanish flags as they gather near a headquarters of federal police in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday Oct. 8, 2017. Demonstrators gathered early in Barcelona on Sunday ahead of a march to show support for the Spanish union and call on Catalonia not to declare independence. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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