Madrid,
Nationalists regained control of Catalonia’s government on Saturday and immediately pledged to seek independence for the wealthy region, posing a swift challenge to 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 Rajoy over a corruption scandal.

The unexpected coincidence of the Central and regional governments taking power minutes apart could open a new chapter after dramatic months that have seen Catalan politicians jailed or fleeing abroad.

“This government is committed to moving towards an independent state in the form of a republic,” Catalonia’s new leader Quim Torra said after the cabinet’s swearing in ceremony in which separatists shouted “Llibertat! Llibertat!”.

“Let’s talk, let’s deal with this question, let’s take risks, you and us. We need to sit around the same table and negotiate, government to government,” he said.