Judge jails, sets bail for top lawmaker in Catalonia probe
MADRID — A Spanish judge jailed Catalonia’s top lawmaker Thursday in a rebellion probe stemming from an independence declaration, but set Carme Forcadell’s bail at 150,000 euros ($175,000) and ordered her passport to be confiscated as the investigation continues.
Forcadell is speaker of the regional parliament whose separatist lawmakers passed a declaration to proclaim Catalonia as a new republic. She was sent to a jail near Madrid late Thursday, but was expected to get out after making bail Friday.
Spain’s constitutional Court warned that the Oct. 27 vote in the Catalan Parliament would be illegal and most opposition lawmakers boycotted the session.
The Spanish government immediately seized control of the wealthy northeastern region, the first time in the four decades since Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship ended that Madrid removed powers from any of the country’s 17 regions.