Catalan nationalists back in power, aim secession in challenge to Sanchez

Nationalists regained control of Catalonia's government on Saturday and immediately pledged to seek independence for the wealthy region, posing a swift challenge to the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who took office on the same day.

The new Catalan cabinet was sworn in after months of tensions with the central government, ending Madrid's seven-month direct rule of the region, imposed by Sanchez's predecessor after separatists declared independence.

Sanchez, a Socialist who has said he wants talks on Catalonia but opposes any independence referendum, was sworn in about an hour earlier on Saturday, a day after parliament ousted conservative Mariano