SPAIN-CATALONIA-POLITICS

Catalan pro independence mayors raise their batons and hold a banner demanding freedom for two leaders of Catalan separatist groups, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, who were detained pending an investigation into sedition charges, after a session of the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on October 27, 2017. Catalonia's parliament voted to declare independence from Spain and proclaim a republic, just as Madrid is poised to impose direct rule on the region to stop it in its tracks. A motion declaring independence was approved with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and two abstentions, with Catalan opposition MPs walking out of the 135-seat chamber before the vote in protest at a declaration unlikely to be given official recognition. / AFP PHOTO / Josep LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)