Spanish PM Urges Senate to Grant Him Powers Over Catalonia

In an impassioned address, Spain's prime minister urged the Senate on Friday to grant his government special constitutional measures that would allow it to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers and halt the region's independence bid.

But in Barcelona, the main city in Catalonia, separatist lawmakers filed a proposal for the regional parliament to vote later Friday on whether to break away from Spain and establish an independent republic. Thousands of independence supporters gathered near the parliament building in the northeastern city in anticipation of that historic declaration.

The twin developments showed Spain's biggest political crisis in decades heading for a showdown.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who received sustained applause before and after his speech in the Senate in Madrid, told the chamber that Spain was facing a challenge not seen in its recent history.