Catalan separatists deal blow to Madrid

With their leaders in exile or jail, Catalan separatists scrambled Friday to reap the benefits of defeating Spain's central government in a divisive regional election.
Madrid had called Thursday's poll after secessionists declared independence on October 27, in Spain's worst political crisis since democracy was reinstated following dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975. The vote was widely seen as a moment of truth on Catalonia's independence question, a hugely divisive issue for the wealthy northeast region, that has rattled a Europe already shaken by Brexit.
With the secessionists maintaining a majority in the Catalan parliament, the move to call snap polls appeared to backfire against Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had sacked the regional government and dissolved its parliament. Emboldened by his side's win, ousted regional president Carles Puigdemont called on Rajoy to hold talks in Brussels, where he has sought self-imposed exile, or anywhere else in Europe - barring Spain, where he faces arrest.
He also called on the European Union, which has so far sided with Rajoy in the crisis, to hear out the independence camp. "I only demand to the European Commission or other European institutions, to listen, to listen to the Catalan people, not only the Spanish state," he told reporters in Brussels.
The appeal was in line with his strategy throughout the crisis, positioning himself as an equal to the Spanish prime minister and seeking recognition from the international community. But Puigdemont's appeal fell, once again, on deaf ears.
In Madrid, Rajoy rejected the call to meet, as he warned the new Catalan government should fully respect the law. And in Brussels, a European Commission spokesperson who asked not to be named said: "Our position on the Catalan issue is well known... As it is a regional election, we have no comment to make."
Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia list secured the best result of the three separatist groupings. How the independence camp intends to rule remains a mystery, however.
Puigdemont faces charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds in Spain. Other independence leaders, including Puigdemont's former deputy Oriol Junqueras, are behind bars pending trial. And a Spanish judge on Friday expanded a probe into the secessionist bid to include another six independence leaders, including former regional president Artur Mas, in a written ruling seen by AFP. To govern together, the three separatist lists must reach an agreement after running on separate tickets with key candidates making acrimonious accusations against each other.