Spanish PM sacks entire Catalan government as tensions over independence escalate

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ordered a total reshuffle of the Catalangovernment yesterday that will remove Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and his cabinet from office, the Guardian reports. The move to impose direct rule came after Catalonia’s calls for independence following a referendum earlier this month. Puigdemont decried the move as an attempt by the Spanish government to attack “the institutions and people of Catalonia.”