Catalonia cabinet meets to plan declaration of independence from Spain

Catalonia's government held a closed-door cabinet meeting on Monday, October 2, to discuss the next steps in its plan to declare independence from Spain following a disputed referendum marred by violence. Regional officials say the poll, which Spain insists was illegal and invalid, shows that the majority who voted favour secession.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will meet with ruling and opposition party leaders before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront the country's most serious crisis in decades.

The referendum debacle brought Spain and Catalonia closer to a potentially disastrous showdown as each side said Sunday's events proved them right and neither looked prepared to cede ground.

Catalan cabinet meeting 

Catalonia will create a special commission to investigate claims of abuse by Spanish police during a banned referendum on independence on Sunday after more than 800 people were left injured, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said at a news conference on Monday following a Catalan cabinet meeting.

The Catalan leader said he had had no contact with Spain's central government.

Puigdemont also called on Spain's national police reinforcements to leave the northeastern region. He said the regional government will investigate responsibilities in rights violations.

Calling for international mediation to solve the political deadlock, Puigdemont called for the European Union to consider Catalonia's desire to break away from Spain as a regional problem, and urged Rajoy's government to accept mediation.

The Catalan president said that in the upcoming days, the regional parliament will be carrying out the mandate to declare independence in the light of the "yes" victory in the referendum.

Pro-independence rally

Prior to the cabinet meeting, Catalan mayors and crowds of people gathered outside Catalonia's regional government building, known as Generalitat, in Barcelona in a show of support for Puigdemont and Sunday's independence referendum.

Puigdemont, who was attending an emergency cabinet meeting in the Generalitat, unexpectedly joined the mayors, as the crowd of supporters filling the square cheered and chanted pro-independence slogans.

Catalonia, with the vibrant city of Barcelona as its capital, represents a fifth of Spain's economy. Polls consistently show that while most of its 7.5 million inhabitants favoured a referendum, they are roughly evenly split on independence from Spain.

Those in favour of secession argue that the region contributes more to the national government than it receives in return. Catalonians already enjoy a wide measure of autonomy but the central government still controls taxation and other financial levers, as well as infrastructure projects.

Contested referendum

The impasse developed after Catalan authorities decided to go ahead with Sunday's referendum even after Spain's Constitutional Court suspended it. The Spanish central government denies the referendum even took place, while Catalan separatists say it was valid and justifies making a final break with Spain.

Catalonia said preliminary poll results showed 90 percent favoured independence after less than half the electorate voted in a day that saw 893 people injured in clashes with riot police. 

In addition, 33 police officers were injured.

Clashes broke out at a number of voting locations after riot police turned up to prevent people from voting and to confiscate ballot boxes.

Catalan leaders accused Spanish police of brutality and repression while the Spanish government praised the security forces for behaving firmly and proportionately.

International responses

So far, the EU, the US and most international bodies have backed Spain in its stance against Catalonian independence.

The EU’s executive urged on all sides in Spain "to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue."

EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas also said the Commission trusts "the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process."

"These are times for unity and stability," Schinas said. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics."

TRT World's Jack Parrock elaborates from Brussels:

The UN human rights chief called on Spain's government to ensure "thorough, independent and impartial investigations" into acts of violence linked to the Catalan independence referendum.

Serbia's president says the EU has shown "double standards and hypocrisy" in rejecting the Catalan referendum but not the independence of ex-Serbian province of Kosovo.

Aleksandar Vucic said his government supports the territorial integrity of Spain, one of five EU member nations that have not recognised Kosovo.