TEHRAN _ The European Union, and Spain in particular, are having difficult days. The declaration of independence in Catalonia will mean the start of a crisis in Spain and the European Union. Accordingly, other independent currents in Europe may also be influenced by what is happening in Catalonia.

 An overview of reports released by the European media indicates that the crisis in Catalonia is extremely complicated. As Independent reported, Just 45 minutes after Friday’s pro-independence vote in Barcelona, in Madrid, the Senate voted in favour of giving the Spanish government unprecedented sweeping powers for direct rule in Catalonia.

“There is no alternative,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, told the Senate. “We are faced with a serious situation which is very serious for many people.”

“In Catalonia the law has been ignored and disobeyed. This is the greatest ever case of disrespect to democracy with the exception of the [attempted] coup d’etat of 1981.”

Mr Rajoy confirmed he would apply those measures already outlined in a speech he made last weekend. “There has been no change,” he argued, after which he received a standing ovation from the ruling Partido Popular senators.
As Telegragh reported, Catalonia woke up today under the direct control of Madrid as the Spanish prime minister took drastic measures to quash secession, deposing the region's leaders and dissolving its parliament hours after lawmakers declared independence.

In a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe and sent shockwaves through Spain, Mariano Rajoy also decided to call snap Catalan elections on December 21 to "restore normality" to a region in turmoil.All eyes this weekend will be on whether Catalonia's separatist executive willingly steps down and independence supporters carry out their threat of peaceful resistance to Madrid's takeover.

In the Spanish capital, protesters are due to hit the streets today, against Catalonia's declaration of independence, which while lacking any legal basis has caused strife in a region deeply divided on whether to split from Spain.
In Barcelona and other Catalan cities, thousands celebrated their regional parliament's motion for independence, which passed with 70 votes for, 10 against and two absentions in a 135-seat chamber that anti-secession MPs had deserted in protest.
Demonstrators in Barcelona broke out in ecstatic shouts of: "Independence!" as the result was announced, while separatist MPs cheered, clapped and embraced before breaking out in the Catalan anthem.

But others glumly assessed the fallout to what they viewed as a hugely damaging and illegal vote.
"They're forgetting part of the people, the majority," said Josep Reina, a 34-year-old salesman.

The move to take over Catalan powers is likely to anger many in a region of some 7.5 million people that enjoyed considerable autonomy, with control over its education, healthcare and police. It is the first time that the central government has curtailed regional autonomy since dictator Francisco Franco's repressive 1939-75 rule.

Independence supporters have warned they will resist the temporary measure, implemented under Article 155 of the constitution, devised to rein in rebel regions.

"We won't cave in to Rajoy's authoritarianism nor to 155," tweeted the far-left CUP party, an ally of Puigdemont. The resistance could come in the form of street protests and strikes, all of which have already happened since October 1 when an outlawed independence referendum was marred by police violence as central authorities tried to stop people from voting.

Catalan leaders hold up the unregulated referendum that had been banned by the Constitutional Court as a mandate for independence, saying 90 percent voted "Yes" even if only 43 percent of voters turned out.
As reported, Catalonia has become one of the main centers of crisis in Europe. Undoubtedly, this will not simply end. Indeed, Catalan advocates insist on their will, while their actions in the Constitutional Court and the Spanish central government are not legal.
Various analyzes have been made in this regard.
Federico Santi, Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, warned there could be "more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists," echoing widely-held fears.

Speaking after the parliament proclaimed an independent republic, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont urged activists to "maintain the momentum" in a peaceful manner.
Other measures adopted by the government include the dismissal of the director of the Catalan regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, as well as Catalan government representatives in Madrid and Brussels.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria is due to meet Saturday with secretaries of states, who will likely take charge of Catalonia's regional ministries.

The Spanish government has received unwavering support from his European allies and the United States. The European Union in particular is wary of nationalistic and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain's dramatic decision last year to leave the bloc.EU President Donald Tusk insisted Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" in Spain. But he also urged Madrid to exercise restraint, tweeting: "I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force."

As already mentioned, the European Union is now deeply concerned about the current developments in Catalonia. As Telegragh reported The EU's most senior official warned that "more cracks" were emerging in the bloc on Friday after the Catalan parliament declared independence from Spain, plunging the country into political and economic turmoil.
Madrid swiftly responded to the vote by dissolving the Catalan parliament and dismissing Carles Puigdemont as president of Catalonia and his entire government.

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, announced that regional elections would be held in December and said the unprecedented act of imposing direct rule on the regional was needed to "recover normality".
The shock decision to declare independence poses potentially the greatest threat to the EU's unity since Brexit, and is likely to fuel support for separatist movements in Ireland, Scotland and the Basque Country.

Also The Guardian reported that Madrid has taken direct control of Catalonia for the first time in nearly four decades, firing the regional government and dismissing the head of the local police force, after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence.
Carles Puigdemont and his cabinet were formally removed from their posts, and their powers and responsibilities taken over by central government in notices posted to the official state bulletin on Saturday morning.

The orders provided an outline for a takeover approved by the Spanish senate on Friday, but Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, now faces the challenge of implementing them.
The Catalan government has not yet responded, but the president, his allies and supporters are widely expected to defy the orders to leave their posts.
Josep Lluís Trapero, head of the regional Mossos d’Esquadra police, who won praise for his response to the August terrorist attacks, has been the only official to say he will comply, accepting a demotion to commissar.

A 10-day general strike has already been called by one of Catalonia’s biggest unions in support of the new republic of Catalonia, starting on Monday. Some of the region’s 200,000 civil servants have already said they will not accept orders from Madrid. Beyond the sweeping assumption of powers, Madrid took wider aim at the project of Catalan statehood pursued by the regional government. Among other orders, it dismantled informal embassies set up by Catalonia in countries from Denmark to Morocco, and dismissed a tribunal set up to investigate rights abuses during the 1 October referendum, when Spanish police were widely criticised for their use of force.

Catalan opponents of independence are often described as a “silent majority”, and government polls in the run-up to the October referendum suggest their ranks swelled slightly in recent months. On Sunday they will hold a long-planned march in support of remaining part of Spain, and turnout is likely to be watched closely, as a barometer of anti-separatist sentiment, although numbers may be swelled by demonstrators joining from other parts of Spain.
The region has been officially self-governing since its statute of autonomy was signed in 1979, as Spain returned to democracy following the death of dictator Gen Francisco Franco.