Catalonia’s regional government will be disbanded and its functions taken over by central Spanish government staff, ministers, and police under Article 155 of the national constitution, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy declared Thursday after his deadline for Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to bend the knee to Madrid passed without action.
While Rajoy’s government must still hold a formal vote scheduled for Saturday in order to put the provision into formal motion, the gear...