Spain's direct rule enforced in Catalonia, region accept to take part in elections

Spain’s direct rule over Catalonia took hold on Monday as Catalonia employees ignored calls for civil disobedience to turn up for work, while secessionist parties agreed to stand in new elections, a move that implies that the region has accepted that the regional government has been dissolved.

This comes after Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy assumed direct control of the region on Friday, sacking its secessionist government and called for a snap election for Dec 21.

Meanwhile, ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont travelled to Belgium with several other members of his sacked administration, a senior member of Spain’s ruling People’s Party said.

Puigdemont, his Vice President, Oriol Junqueras, and some of the most prominent ousted Catalan leaders, had said they would not accept their dismissal but their respective parties, PdeCat and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, on Monday said they would take part in the election, a tacit acceptance that parliament had been dissolved.

Also, a call for widespread civil disobedience from the main civic groups behind the secessionist campaign failed to attract many followers as most public sector workers such as teachers, firefighters and the police started worked as normal on Monday and there was no sign of widespread absenteeism reports Reuters.

Spain’s state prosecutor, Attorney-General Jose Manuel Maza, has called for charges of rebellion and sedition, as well as fraud and misuse of funds, against them.

Catalonia, which also is a prosperous region with its own language and culture, held an independence referendum on Oct. 1, which Spanish courts declared as illegal.