Key figures in the push for independence in Spain’s Catalonia region:
Carles Puigdemont
- President of the autonomous region since January 2016
- Worked as a journalist before entering politics
- Served as mayor of the city of Girona
- Has long been an advocate of independence for Catalonia
Mariano Rajoy
- Prime minister of Spain since December 2011
- Championed austerity measures in response to the country’s financial crisis
- Faced public opposition and his Popular Party lost its parliamentary majority in 2015
- For the past year he has led a minority government
- Has strongly opposed Catalonia’s independence efforts
Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart
- Key figures in the Catalonia separatist movement
- Sanchez heads the Catalan National Assembly
- Cuixart leads Omnium Cultural
- Both were arrested on accusations they provoked violence against police during a pro-independence march last month
- Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest their detention
