Mariano Rajoy

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says the Spanish region has won the right to statehood following a contentious referendum that was marred by violence, reported BBC. 

He said the door had been opened to a unilateral declaration of independence.

Catalan officials later said 90% of those who voted backed independence in Sunday's vote. The turnout was 42.3%.

After polling stations closed in Sunday's controversial Catalonia independence referendum, Spain's Prime Minister announced that "no referendum" took place in the country.

"No referendum has been held in Catalonia today," PM Mariano Rajoy declared at a news conference Sunday evening.

Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau on Sept. 28 called for European Union mediation in the standoff over Catalonia's planned independence referendum in an opinion piece in Britain's Guardian daily.

Spain's chief public prosecutor on Monday refused to rule out ordering the arrest of Catalonia's president as Spanish authorities continued a crackdown against a banned independence referendum in the region, according to the Telegraph.co.uk.

Tensions are high in the Spanish region of Catalonia ahead of more planned protests by referendum supporters.

Overnight, police occupied the region's economy ministry as hundreds of protesters remained outside.

Catalan economy minister Josep Maria Jové was one of more than a dozen senior officials detained by authorities on Wednesday.

Spain's central government braced for a second day of protests in Barcelona yesterday as separatists called for "permanent mobilization" after Madrid dealt yet another blow to preparations for an outlawed referendum on independence.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has gone on national TV to urge Catalan separatists to abandon their plans for a referendum on 1 October.

He asked the region's government to give up its "escalation of radicalism and disobedience".

The Spanish authorities have sought to stop the vote, which they regard as illegal, by seizing voting materials.

Thousands took to the streets of Barcelona on Sept. 20 as Spanish police detained 13 Catalan government officials in a crackdown ahead of an independence referendum which Madrid says is illegal.

Spain's state prosecutor has summoned more than 700 Catalan mayors who have backed an independence referendum, in an escalation of Madrid's efforts to block the vote that it has declared illegal. 

Spain's constitutional court on Thursday suspended the call for a referendum on Catalonia's independence after agreeing to review an appeal by central authorities in Madrid.