'No alternative' to Article 155 in Catalonia, Spanish PM says

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has delivered a passionate speech to senators in Madrid defending the suspension of Catalan autonomy.

Rajoy told the Senate that there was ‘no alternative’ to the invoking of Article 155, and warned that any unilateral declaration would do untold damage to the north-eastern region.

The regional government and the federal government have been at loggerheads in recent weeks after a controversial referendum on 1 October in which local authorities said a large majority had cast their ballots in favour of independence.

"There is no alternative to the 155. The law must be respected in order to carry out the law," Rajoy told a rapturous Senate.

"The threat to Catalonia today is not Article 155, but the attitude of the regional government. It has to move away from anti-constitutional attitudes."

On Thursday, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont refused to agree to requests from Madrid to call elections for the region, saying that he had not received any "guarantees" from Rajoy about what form they would take.

Rajoy said the blame for the deepening of the crisis in the region is placed firmly in Puigdemont’s hands.

"It was his decision for the Article 155 to continue forward," Rajoy explained.

Alongside the senate session on Friday, the Catalan parliament is currently debating whether it should make a declaration of independence, after Puigdemont left the decision up to lawmakers.

Puigdemont had previously signed the declaration before immediately suspending it and calling for dialogue with the national government.