In the presence of all the ministers of his government, Mariano Rajoy announced the decision to apply article 155 of the constitution for the first time in the history of Spain. "A situation due to the choice by Catalonia to force the government to accept an illegal referendum that the government could not accept", explains the prime minister. For the Spanish government, the Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been responsible for a "rebellious, systematic and conscious disobedience" of the obligations established by law and the constitution and has "seriously undermined" the general interest of the state.
This is confirmed by the reasons for the request to activate article 155 examined during the extraordinary meeting of the council of ministers that has just concluded in Madrid to define the measures with which to regain control of Catalonia, after the events that followed the independence referendum. The decisions adopted will then be submitted to the approval of the Senate so that the process can be started so that they can be voted by the plenary on Friday 27 October and enter into force as early as Saturday 28 October.
The Government of Madrid has also predicted that in six months there will be new elections in Catalonia.
