• In Spain, a question today is whether the region’s civil servants will fall in line on direct rule from Madrid as they return to work after days of an escalating crisis.

Carles Puigdemont, the separatist leader, called for a peaceful “democratic opposition” (though it is not clear what that might mean) after the Spanish prime minister deposed him and announced regional elections on Dec. 21.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Barcelona on Sunday for a rally against independence.

Our correspondent went to the Basque region to see whether the Catalan separatists had inspired secessionists elsewhere in Spain. While he found sympathy for Catalan efforts to secede, only a minority there seem to see a model.