Spain PM Calls New Catalan Secession Plans ‘Authoritarian’

Madrid (AP) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday described as "authoritarian delirium" plans by the ruling parties in the northeastern Catalonia region to declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of a promised referendum Oct. 1, if voters say "yes."

Rajoy told a business meeting that Spaniards and Catalans could rest assured that the "confrontational' gestures of the pro-independence parties will never win over the democratic state.