For the past six months, Catalan separatists and the Spanish government have been deadlocked. The separatists insist on the legitimacy of the independence referendum last october and Catalonia’s right to secede from Spain.
The Spanish government is adamant that the referendum was illegal and that the region cannot break away. Senior Catalan activists and politicians have been arrested, charged with inciting rebellion and sedition, while Catalan home rule has been suspended by Madrid.
To restore the region’s autonomy, the pro-independence majority in the Catalan parliament needs to form a new government.
The problem is that all their leaders are either in jail or, in the case of Carles Puigdemont, the last regional president, awaiting possible extradition abroad. Puigdemont is currently in legal limbo in Berlin, since going into self-imposed exile after last year’s referendum.
