• In an unusually forceful move, Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, is seeking to take control of Catalonia’s administration and remove its separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont.

The Senate could grant him the authority under Article 155 of the Constitution, a broad but ill-defined tool that has never before been used, by Friday. Mr. Puigdemont could still ask lawmakers to vote for a unilateral declaration of independence or call elections.

Both sides share blame for allowing the dispute to spin dangerously out of control, our correspondent writes.