Catalonia should remain to be a part of Spain despite the independence vote, Spanish foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, said on Monday.

Madrid hopes that holding local elections in Catalonia would help to “restore legal governance and rule of law in Catalonia,” the Spanish top diplomat has said.

“We hope and believe that after these elections, Catalonia will again be the same society it was before: open and integrated.”

The Spanish foreign policy chief’s statement comes after the country’s Senate invoked Article 155 of the Constitution imposing direct control over Catalonia after the region’s parliament had voted in favor of unilaterally declaring independence from Spain on October 27.

Moreover, in a move boosting Madrid’s control over Catalonia, the Spanish prime minister sacked the autonomous region’s president, Carles Puigdemont, and his government and called for regional elections on December 21.

In his turn, Puigdemont has refused to recognize Madrid’s decision and called for peaceful resistance.

Source: Sputnik