The Spanish Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, has denied that his government's move to reassert control over Catalonia amounts to a "coup", BBC reports.
The speaker of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, called measures announced by the government on Saturday a "de facto coup d'état". "If anyone has attempted a coup, it is the Catalan regional government, Mr Dastis told the BBC. Madrid acted after regional leaders refused to halt an independence drive.