Factbox - What happens next in Spain-Catalonia standoff?

Esteladas (Catalan separatist flags) and a Spanish flag (L) hang from balconies of a building in Barcelona, Spain, October 16, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain said on Thursday it would suspend the autonomy of the wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia over its bid to secede, pitching the euro zone's fourth-largest economy into uncharted political waters.

Barcelona, the capital of a region which produces a fifth of Spain's economic output, is now heading for direct rule from Madrid for the first time in Spain's 40 years of democracy.