BARCELONA, SPAIN ¨C Catalonia refused on Tuesday to bow to the Spanish government¡¯s demand that it renounce a symbolic declaration of independence, setting it on a collision course with Madrid later this week.
Madrid has threatened to put Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain¡¯s economy, under direct central rule if its regional government does not abandon independence by Thursday.
But Catalonia¡¯s government rejected Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy¡¯s deadline.
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