Spain warns Catalonia against independence declaration

Catalonia's president Carles Puigdemont will address his region's parliament on Tuesday with many supporters hoping he will issue a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain. However, with the Spanish government poised to take a hard line in response, it is likely the Catalan leader will make a less drastic statement.

The Catalan government has billed Mr Puigdemont’s parliamentary appearance, at 6pm local time, as an opportunity to “report on the current political situation”. For many pro-independence Catalans, it means he should follow through on the result of the October 1st referendum which favoured breaking away from Spain. Immediately after the vote, Mr Puigdemont said he would obey a law approved by the Catalan parliament obliging the region to announce its independence within days of the result.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a powerful pro-independence civic group, is planning to gather members outside the parliament building in Barcelona as the regional president speaks.

"I'm pretty optimistic," Liz Castro, a member of the ANC told The Irish Times. "I believe they are going to […] declare independence."

China’s anti-graft campaign nets 1.34 million ‘flies’ in five years

---

Britain will answer to EU court during Brexit transition

---

Erdogan describes US visa ban as ‘upsetting’

---

After pledge to fight or die, Isis fighters surrender en masse

---

But the message from the Catalan government has become marginally less strident in recent days. Marta Pascal, general secretary of Mr Puigdemont’s Catalan Democratic Party (PDeCAT), told the BBC that he will make “a symbolic statement” rather than a full independence declaration.

‘Common sense’

The Spanish government issued a new warning on Monday regarding any attempt to secede. An independence declaration would “receive a response,” deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said.

“On the other side there’s a fanatic,” she said of Mr Puigdemont. “And it’s up to us to apply a double dosage of common sense.”

The Spanish government is believed to be considering suspending Catalonia’s autonomous powers in what would be an unprecedented move.

Increasing the pressure on the Catalan government, a number of large companies have decided to move their legal base out of Catalonia in recent days as the uncertainty has mounted.

The French government has taken Madrid's side in the dispute. The country's European Affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, said that a declaration of independence "would not be recognised" by France.