Catalan parliament to meet on Monday, defying Spain: Regional official

Enrique Calvo | Reuters

People hold Catalan separatist flags during a demonstration two days after the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain, on October 3, 2017.

Catalonia’s parliament will meet on Monday in defiance of a legal process to clamp down on those who want independence for the region, the Catalan head of foreign affairs said on Friday.

In a deepening standoff between those who support independence for the wealthy northeastern region and the Spanish central government, Raul Romeva told the BBC that Catalonia’s regional parliament would make a decision on independence.

On Thursday, Spain’s Constitutional Court suspended the session of the Catalan parliament scheduled for Monday, in which local leaders were expected to declare Catalonia’s unilateral independence from Spain following a banned referendum on secession at the weekend.