Spain

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

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

he European Commission called on Spain to open dialogue with Catalonia on Monday, saying violence was no solution but also calling for unity and backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's leadership in what was an "internal matter".

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%.

ZARAGOZA - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic on Tuesday met with Violeta Barba Borderias, parliament speaker of Spain's autonomous region of Aragon, on the first day of his visit to the city of Zaragoza.

They exchanged views on current political processes in Spain, Serbia and Aragon, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said.

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.

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. 

Parliament in Spain's prosperous Catalonia region has approved an independence vote for October 1, which Madrid has vowed to stop.

Separatist parties, which hold a slim majority, backed the referendum legislation and legal framework needed to set up an independent state.

The pro-separatist government of Catalonia said it had set up its own tax agency, ready for action after the disputed referendum on independence from Madrid scheduled for October 1st.

Spain will maintain its security alert level at 4, one notch below the maximum level which would signal an attack was imminent, after two deadly attacks in the northeastern region of Catalonia this week, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said, cited by Reuters.