For the first time in Spain’s democratic history, the government will take direct control over one of the country’s autonomous regions, after lawmakers in Catalonia ended weeks of agonized fence-sitting on Friday and voted to secede. The dueling declarations — by the national parliament in…

The hours before the president of Catalonia took the podium, the rumors were coming thick and fast. No one seemed sure if Carles Puigdemont would declare independence unilaterally for the region of Spain he leads, or if he would sue for negotiations with the Madrid…