Spain’s prime minister threatens direct rule if Catalonia presses independence bid

BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday issued a blistering denunciation of Catalonia’s regional independence referendum Oct. 1 and raised the threat of Madrid imposing direct rule on the northeast region. The Spanish leader’s stinging rebuke, delivered at a somber session of the national parliament, marked a deepening of Spain’s worst political crisis…