Spain Tells Catalonia to Drop Its Independence Bid or Face the Consequences

Catalonia has until Monday to provide clarification on its bid for independence

Author:: Edward Hardy
Publish date:: Oct 12, 2017 6:47 AM EDT

The Spanish government has told Catalonia to drop its independence bid or face the consequences.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave the region 8 days to rescind its declaration of independence in a speech on Wednesday.

Catalonia has until Monday to provide clarification on its bid for independence and then has until October 19th to rescind it or Spain will suspend Catalonia's current autonomy.

If Catalonia doesn't drop its independence bid, Rajoy will likely implement Article 155 of the constitution, which gives the Spanish government the ability to suspend the region's autonomy.

"As Article 155 has never been implemented before, its timeframe is unclear. However, some estimates consider that the whole procedure could be wrapped up in five days," said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

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