Catalonia’s tumultuous push for independence is on a knife edge after separatists turned on their leader with Spanish authorities just hours away from getting the political power to crush their movement.
Senators in Madrid are expected to pass legislation on Friday allowing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to seize control of everything from the insurgent region’s budget to its police force and state-run media. Backed into a corner by his own hardliners and Rajoy’s refusal to give him a dignified way out, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont will address the regional parliament in Barcelona as demonstrators clamor for a declaration of independence.
