Madrid has also demanded that Catalonia’s autonomous police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, is made completely subordinate to Spain’s Interior Ministry. Their first big job will be to prevent anyone from getting within 100 meters of a ballot box on Sunday, the day of the vote. The Mossos have so far refused to comply and its chief of police, Josep Lluís Trapero, has said he will not attend any meeting in any Spanish government building.
In other words, tensions between the two sides are not exactly easing.
And political instability is no longer just a threat in Catalonia. In the second scenario postulated by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts, the current crisis could also affect the stability of the central government led by Mariano Rajoy.