Spain's top court halts Catalan secession parliament meeting
Mariano Rajoy
Earlier   Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy  urged the separatist leader of the regional Catalan government  Carles Puigdemont  to cancel plans for declaring independence in order to avoid "greater evils."
In an interview with Spain's official EFE news agency   Rajoy  said the solution in Catalonia "is the prompt return to legality and the affirmation  as early as possible  that there will be no unilateral declaration of independence  because that way greater evils will be avoided."
In this photo taken on Oct. 2  2017  Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy begins a meeting with socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid  Spain. Spain's Prime Minister on Thursday Oct. 5  2017  has urged the separatist leader of the regional Catalan government to cancel plans for declaring the independence of Catalonia in order to avoid "greater evils." (AP Photo/Paul White)
Pablo Iglesias  the leader of the Spanish opposition party Podemos  called  Rajoy  and urged him to seek mediation. But  Rajoy  insists that regional president Carles Puigdemont must first drop the threat of declaring independence  which was seen by some as a slight easing of his opposition to talks.
 Rajoy  has been under pressure to act without further tarnishing his image or inflaming separatist sentiment in the region  where a strong cultural identity has mixed with years of grievances for what many Catalans see as an unfair economic treatment of the region  one of Spain's richest.
Earlier   [TGT]urged the separatist leader of the regional Catalan government  Carles Puigdemont  to cancel plans for declaring independence in order to avoid "greater evils."
In an interview with Spain's official EFE news agency   Rajoy  said the solution in Catalonia "is the prompt return to legality and the affirmation  as early as possible  that there will be no unilateral declaration of independence  because that way greater evils will be avoided."
In this photo taken on Oct. 2  2017  [TGT] begins a meeting with socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid  Spain. Spain's Prime Minister on Thursday Oct. 5  2017  has urged the separatist leader of the regional Catalan government to cancel plans for declaring the independence of Catalonia in order to avoid "greater evils." (AP Photo/Paul White)
Pablo Iglesias  the leader of the Spanish opposition party Podemos  called  Rajoy  and urged him to seek mediation. But  [TGT]insists that regional president Carles Puigdemont must first drop the threat of declaring independence  which was seen by some as a slight easing of his opposition to talks.
 [TGT]has been under pressure to act without further tarnishing [TGT] image or inflaming separatist sentiment in the region  where a strong cultural identity has mixed with years of grievances for what many Catalans see as an unfair economic treatment of the region  one of Spain's richest.