Spain’s ruling Socialists want to amend constitution, move to ‘federal model’ – minister

The new Spanish government minister managing the Catalonia region’s secession movement says constitutional reform would help end the worst political crisis in nearly four decades. Meritxell Batet, a Catalan lawmaker, was sworn in Thursday as Spain’s minister of public administration. The politician  said Saturday that the ruling Socialists want to amend the Spanish Constitution to move toward a “federal model,” AP reports. The current structure of regional “autonomous communities” that have varying degrees of self-governance “has been successful until now, but it needs a renovation,” Batet said. The separatist-led regional government in Catalonia, which failed to declare independence last year, is the most pressing problem facing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. He took office last week after leading a no-confidence vote in parliament to oust predecessor Mariano Rajoy.