Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday announced plans to dismiss the leaders of the Catalan government, three weeks after the region's disputed independence referendum.



Speaking after a specially convened cabinet meeting, Rajoy said the government in Madrid would seek to sack Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, as well as the region's vice president and ministers, with new elections to be held in the next six months.

But he said Catalonia's parliament would not be dissolved and that the region's semi-autonomy was not being suspended, although pro-independence supporters are unlikely to agree with that view.

Puigdemont said Catalonia would reject the plan, describing it in a televised address as the worst attack on the region since the Franco regime.



"Mariano Rajoy thinks he can run the lives of Catalans from Madrid," he said, describing the prime minister's moves as "an attack on democracy".

Puigdemont called on regional representatives to meet and vote on how to respond to Rajoy's plans.

