Some Catalan officials turn up for work as usual

Catalan officials were faced with a dilemma on Monday morning: whether they should go to work or not. After the Spanish government invoked Article 155 of the Constitution suspending Catalonia’s self-rule and removing the Catalan executive from office, it was not clear how Catalan officials should respond.

Economy secretary Pere Aragonès had no doubts, arriving at his office just after 9am with secretary general of the vice president’s department, Lluís Juncà. “We are under an intervention by the state government, but we continue working,” said Aragonés in a statement on Monday afternoon. Secretary general of home affairs, César Puig, also went to work with the defiant message: “I have not been removed from office by the person with the right to do so, which is the government that appointed me,” he said.