Spain PM says will fight for unity ahead of Catalan leader vote

The majority secessionist lawmakers in Catalonia's parliament voted in a new leader Sunday, tasking him to oversee the wealthy region's breakaway from Spain in a last-minute show of unity after months of bitter infighting.
Carles Puigdemont was elected regional president with 70 votes for, 63 against and two abstentions, giving Catalonia's high-profile independence movement a fresh lease of life.
Catalonia's pro-independence faction that won regional parliamentary elections in September appointed him candidate on Saturday in a surprise move after months of in-fighting and divisions over who should lead the new local government.
Spain's incumbent Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday he would fight for his country's unity as the parliament in Catalonia prepared to vote in a new regional secessionist leader.
"The government won't allow a single act that could harm the unity and sovereignty of Spain," he said in a live televised appearance in Madrid.