BARCELONA — Catalonia declared itself an independent republic on Friday. But nobody is sure how long it will last.
Within hours of an emotional vote by the Catalan Parliament, Spain’s prime minister announced that he would dismantle Catalonia’s government, suspend its ministers, dissolve its upstart legislature, take over the regional police and call home any Catalan diplomats abroad.
The orders were effective immediately. In a Europe where change once took place at a glacial pace, this was the latest surprise for a continent rocked by division and upset, populism and nationalism.
