Catalan Separatist Leaders Go on Trial Over Independence Bid

The Catalan and Spanish flags on Palau de la Generalitat, seat of the government of Catalonia, in Barcelona, Spain, on Oct. 3, 2018. Anna Llado/Special to The Epoch Times

MADRID/BARCELONA—Twelve Catalan politicians go on trial on Tuesday for their role in Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid, putting the spotlight back on Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades which could make it flare once again.

To the dismay of much of the rest of Spain, Catalonia defied a judicial ban by carrying out a referendum and subsequently unilaterally declaring independence in October 2017.