Catalonia

The Supreme Court has ended this Monday the mandate of Quim Torra at the head of the Generalitat de Catalunya the Government of Catalonia.

He has been removed for a crime of disobedience imposed for failing to comply with the order of the Central Electoral Board to remove, during the election campaign, a banner supporting the imprisoned supporting the imprisoned pro-independence leaders.

A court in Brussels has ordered that a European arrest warrant for Lluis Puig, a former minister in the autonomous government of Catalonia, should not be carried out.

The Spanish government had issued the warrant against Puig for his part in the Catalan independence referendum of October 2017.

Puig’s lawyers had argued that only a Catalan court could try him, and not the Supreme Court, as would happen if the warrants were executed, and the Brussels' court has upheld that point of view. The prosecutor’s office is now considering whether to appeal the judgement.

Germany's Foreign Ministry issued a notice warning against tourist travel to the Spanish regions of Aragon, Navarra, and Catalonia after a spike in coronavirus cases.

The Ministry website states: “We currently advise against unnecessary tourist trips to the autonomous communities of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre due to high infection numbers and local lockdowns,”.

Bernat Sole, Catalonia's foreign affairs chief, said: "We do not get into evaluating the decisions by other countries but we obviously don't share it. The Catalan government is responsible … and we are working to protect the life and health of people that live here or are visiting us,".

The Spanish region Catalonia will make it mandatory to wear face masks in all public spaces, even if people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres. The Catalan government’s spokesperson Meritxell Budó announced the final decision will be made during a Civil Protection Meeting on Wednesday but the order is set to take effect on Thursday.

Catalonia's regional president Quim Torra announced that residents in Segria region would not be able to leave the area. Although the population will not be confined to their homes, gatherings of more than ten people and visits to retirement homes are forbidden.

The region, which includes the city of Lleida, has a population of more than 200,000 people.