Socialist Salvador Illa elected leader of Spain’s Catalonia

Catalan parliament confirmed Socialist Salvador Illa as head of the Catalan government this week, ending a decade of separatist rule. Illa is succeeding Pere Aragones who is part of the Republican Left of Catalonia. Illa’s election was upstaged when separatist leader Carles Puigdemont made an appearance at a Barcelona rally yesterday. Puigdemont has a warrant out for his arrest, and has lived in self-imposed exile for seven years. He disappeared before police could arrest him. Puigdemont and the Republican Left favor Catalan independence and aim to secede from Spain.