by Serene ASSIR Agence France Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s King Felipe VI in a Christmas speech on Sunday urged Catalan lawmakers to respect their region’s diversity and avoid another confrontation over independence. Felipe’s remarks came three days after separatist parties, led by ousted president Carles Puigdemont, won an absolute majority of seats in a parliamentary vote. The wealthy northeastern region’s newly elected parliament must “face the problems that affect all Catalans, with respect […]

by Marianne Barriaux with Roland Lloyd Parry in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s King Felipe intervened dramatically Tuesday in the crisis over Catalan leaders’ bid for independence, accusing them of threatening the country’s stability and urging the state to defend “constitutional order.” The 49-year-old king abandoned his previously measured tone over tensions with Catalonia as the standoff dragged the country into its deepest political crisis in decades. He spoke after hundreds […]