Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría

Spain's government has taken a first step towards preventing the election of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont as head of the Spanish region, the deputy prime minister said on Thursday, quoted by Reuters. 

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy today (October 11) asked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont for more clarity on his declaration of independence from Spain.
He said the Spanish government was to discern “whether they (Catalan leaders) have or will make an independence declaration” before taking further measures.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria made a brief statement in which he announced that Mariano Rajoy had summoned an extraordinary cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Catalonia, said The Spain Report quoted by Focus.

The meeting will be held at 9:00 am local time on Wednesday.

The Kingdom of Spain has given a clear sign that no longer wants Hristo Stoichkov to serve as honorary consul of Bulgaria in Barcelona. This was stated by a Spanish diplomatic source, citing an official note sent by the Spanish Embassy in Sofia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Spain's Deputy PM Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría has vowed to sue Bulgaria's football legend Hristo Stoichkov, former striker of FC Barcelona, for defamation following his statements that her grandfather, her father, and even her underaged son, are followers of Francisco Franco, a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a military dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975.

Parliament in Spain's prosperous Catalonia region has approved an independence vote for October 1, which Madrid has vowed to stop.

Separatist parties, which hold a slim majority, backed the referendum legislation and legal framework needed to set up an independent state.