Catalonia’s leader: ‘We will declare independence in a matter of days’

Late Tuesday Catalonia’s leader, Carles Puigdemont, told the BBC that the region will declare independence in a matter of days.

Catalonia’s separatist leadership said nothing would stop it setting up an independent republic, dismissing the condemnation of Spanish King Felipe VI as the breakaway region’s president prepared to deliver his own address last night.

“We will act over the weekend or early next week”, he said.

According to data from BBC, almost 900 people were hurt in the melee that followed.

Of around 2.2 million ballots counted, about 90 per cent were in favour of independence.

Spain has been pushed to the brink by the independence referendum after it was condemned by senior politicians in Madrid and by King Felipe. The escalating conflict is being described as the biggest constitutional crisis in Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s.

In his speech, he said it was the “responsibility of legitimate state powers to ensure constitutional order”.

“I think I can stay in the national team because I truly believe there’s many people in Spain who disapprove of what happened today in Catalonia and who believe in democracy”, he said. “Perhaps the least likely development: Rajoy and Puigdemont finally engage in a meaningful dialogue, possibly with outside mediation”.

“There are people who interpret the Constitution like the Bible, like it contains absolute truths, that it’s more important than the will of the people”, the Catalonian leader said.

The Spanish government must also decide its next steps. It contributes almost one-fifth of the country’s total GDP and has an economy larger than that of Portugal. It was a decisive “yes”, with an impressive turnout made doubly impressive by the violent Spanish police crackdown throughout the region.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the club would have little option but to quit La Liga if Catalonia claimed independence from Spain. “For many years during the Franco era, people weren’t allowed to vote”, Pique said.

People shouted, “Long live free Catalonia, we are peaceful people and we only want to vote”.