Spain’s top court rules to remove Catalan chief from office

Catalan regional president Quim Torra (AP/Manu Fernandez)

Spain’s Supreme Court has effectively barred Catalonia’s regional president from his office for refusing to remove a banner that called for the release of imprisoned separatist leaders and was displayed on a public building ahead of the 2019 general election.

The ruling that Quim Torra disobeyed Spain’s electoral law triggers a new period of political uncertainty in the north-eastern region where a demand by some for independence has triggered the country’s biggest constitutional crisis in decades.