Spain Unleashes Historic Power to End Catalan Independence Push

Carles Puigdemont. Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg

 

• Rajoy to take direct control of Catalonia using Article 155
• ‘All roads lead to new elections’ in region: Teneo’s Barroso

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will deploy the Spanish government’s most wide-ranging constitutional powers for the first time in the country’s history as he seeks to land a decisive blow on the Catalan separatist movement.

Spanish stocks and bonds dropped as Rajoy’s government said it will move forward with the process of suspending the powers of the Catalan administration after regional President Carles Puigdemont refused to shelve his claim to independence.

More EU integration Inevitable: Mercron will be forced to federal EU or eurozone will die

German chancellor Angela Merkel and new French president Emmanuel Macron [GETTY]

 

THE European Union single currency will only survive through even GREATER integrations, analysts have warned.

Eurozone nations will have to find ways of working more closely together despite growing anti-EU sentiment in some countries and the fallout from Brexit.

Analyst Antonio Barroso, managing director at Teneo Intelligence, told CNBC: “I think further integration is inevitable, especially if member states want to make the euro zone sustainable in the long term.