Catalan government to meet to plan independence declaration

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont will chair Monday’s meeting, which is expected to consider asking the regional parliament to vote on an independence declaration later in the week. (Photo By Generalitat de Catalunya, CC0)

BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s government will hold a closed-door Cabinet meeting to discuss the next steps in its plan to declare independence from Spain following a disputed referendum marred by violence. Regional officials say the vote, which Spain insists is illegal and invalid, shows that a majority favour secession.

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont will chair Monday’s meeting, which is expected to consider asking the regional parliament to vote on an independence declaration later in the week.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, meanwhile, meets with ruling party leaders before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront the country’s most serious crisis in decades.

Catalonia said preliminary poll results showed 90 per centfavoured independence after under half the electorate voted in a day that saw around 850 people injured in clashes with police.