Spanish PM hoping intervention in Catalonia will be short

Mr Rajoy said he hopes the measures planned, including the sacking of Mr Puigdemont's government and curtailment of the Catalan parliament's powers, will be brief.

Spain's prime minister has said the government's plans to take unprecedented control of Catalonia's key affairs and halt the region's push for independence are "exceptional" and he hopes they will not last long.

Mariano Rajoy told parliament that the application of the Constitution's Article 155 is the "only possible" response to restore the region's legality, which he said has been liquidated by Catalan president Carles Puigdemont's push to secede.