The European Parliament has voted to waive the immunity of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatist MEPs.

The politicians left Spain in 2017 following a failed independence referendum, which Madrid said was illegal. The vote left the country facing its deepest political crisis in decades.

The decision could help Spain’s bid to extradite the separatists, who have been charged with sedition. All three reject the charges against them, which Mr Puigdemont described as “a clear case of political persecution”.

Sisanda Mpiti.