Catalonia govt cuts formal ties with Spanish monarchy

Catalonia’s pro-independence political leaders are snubbing the Spanish King in their latest public challenge to rule from Madrid, AP reports. Catalan President Quim Torra has said his regional government won’t invite the monarchy to any official event, nor will it send representatives to any royal event. Barcelona says King Felipe VI refuses to discuss the possibility of the wealthy northeastern region seceding from Spain. Torra and other leading Catalan politicians are demanding that Spain’s central government respect a unilateral declaration of independence passed by separatists in October. “We are not subjects, we are citizens,” Torra said in an announcement on Friday. The monarch, like the national government in Madrid, has rejected Catalan secession.