Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visits Barcelona to resume dialogue with Catalonia's separatist leadership on resolving the political crisis triggered by the region's 2017 failed independence bid. In October 2017, the Catalan regional government staged a referendum banned by Madrid then issued a short-lived declaration of independence, triggering Spain's worst political crisis in decades. In 2019, violent protests followed Spain's jailing of nine separatist leaders. IMAGES