Spain’s government has taken control of Catalonia, stripping the northeastern region of its autonomy in efforts to crush Catalonia’s independence movement. On Friday evening, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced his Cabinet had fired Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and dissolved Catalonia’s Parliament under Article 155 of the Constitution, which has never been used in Spain’s modern democratic history. Rajoy ordered regional elections to be held in December. The announcement came just after Catalonia’s regional Parliament voted for independence by a margin of 70 votes to 10. In Barcelona, Carles Puigdemont denounced Rajoy’s actions, saying the Spanish leader was removing a democratically elected administration. He called for continued peaceful defiance.

Carles Puigdemont: “The best way to defend the achievements reached to date is the democratic opposition to the application of Article 155. … We must do so by preserving ourselves from repression and threats, by doing so without ever abandoning, never, at any time, civic and peaceful conduct.”

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of pro-unity demonstrators waved Spanish, Catalan and European Union flags on the streets of Barcelona. We’ll have more on the crisis in Catalonia after headlines.