Catalan secessionist Quim Torra was sworn in on Thursday as the Spanish region’s new leader at a ceremony in Barcelona. He was elected by the Catalan parliament’s lawmakers on Monday. In a sign of the simmering tension, Spain’s government in Madrid, which usually sends a representative to regional government ceremonies, declined to attend the swearing-in. It said Catalan authorities had tried to dictate which central government officials could be present, AP reports. The spat over Catalonia’s future has brought Spain’s worst political crisis in decades. The country’s three main political parties stand united against Catalan independence.