“It is the latest move in a fast-escalating clash between Catalan nationalists and Spanish nationalists, the latter backed by King Juan Carlos and the Spanish military. Jose-Manuel Garcia-Margallo, the foreign minister, threw down the gauntlet, calling Catalan secession ‘illegal and lethal’. He warned that Spain would use its veto to stop the region of Catalonia becoming an EU member ‘indefinitely’. The constitutional crisis has eclipsed the parallel drama of a Spanish bail-out request from the European Stability Mechanism. It is no longer clear whether premier Mariano Rajoy can deliver on any austerity deal with Brussels.”