Catalonia crisis: Spain takes step towards direct rule

Mariano Rajoy said his government had asked the regional government to clarify whether or not it had declared independence.

The move is the first step towards suspending Catalonia's autonomy under the constitution.

Catalan leaders signed a declaration of independence on Tuesday but halted implementation to allow for talks.

Mr Rajoy accused Catalan President Carles Puigdemont of having created "deliberate confusion" and said he wanted to restore "certainty".

"This call - ahead of any of the measures that the government may adopt under Article 155 of our constitution - seeks to offer citizens the clarity and security that a question of such importance requires," Mr Rajoy said. "There is an urgent need to put an end to the situation that Catalonia is going through - to return it to safety, tranquillity and calm and to do that as quickly as possible."

This country woke to the possibility that Madrid might immediately invoke emergency powers in order to suspend self-rule in Catalonia.

But Mariano Rajoy's decision to defer any extraordinary action lowers the temperature of the political crisis here - at least for now.

Instead, Mr Rajoy's decision to seek clarification from Carles Puigdemont establishes a form of de facto dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona.

But agreement doesn't necessarily follow. Mr Rajoy is still under pressure from conservative commentators to take tough action against the authorities in Catalonia.

Meanwhile, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday said he has asked Catalan leader

Carles Puigdemont to confirm whether or not he has declared independence.

Rajoy gave a press conference following an emergency cabinet meeting convened the morning after Catalan President Carles Puigdemont told his Parliament that "Catalonia had won the right to become independent" but that he would "suspend an official declaration for some weeks" to allow for talks with Madrid.

Rajoy accused Puigdemont of creating "deliberate confusion" and said that the Spanish government needed to know whether or not he had declared the northeastern region independent from Spain, BBC reported. The Spanish Prime Minister said his government would base its response on the answer it was given, including any measures it might take invoking a constitutional clause allowing for direct rule.

Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution would allow Rajoy to suspend Catalonia's autonomy and impose direct rule from Madrid.

"This call — ahead of any of the measures that the government may adopt under Article 155 of our Constitution -- seeks to offer citizens the clarity and security that a question of such importance requires," Rajoy said.

"There is an urgent need to put an end to the situation that Catalonia is going through, to return it to

safety, tranquillity and calm and to do that as quickly as possible," he added.

Spain has been in turmoil since a disputed referendum in Catalonia on October 1 was declared invalid by the country's Constitutional Court.

Addressing the Catalan Parliament in Barcelona on Tuesday evening, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said: "We call on international states and organisations to recognise the Catalan republic as an independent and sovereign state."