Spain reiterated its intention to implement direct rule over Catalonia if Catalan president Carles Puigdemont failed to abandon secession plans by 8:00 GMT on Thursday, reports the BBC.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said,
“All I ask of Mr Puigdemont is that he acts sensibly to put the interest of all citizens first.”
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria added if the deadline was not met Spain “will provoke the application of Article 155,” which lays out the path for direct rule from Madrid.
On Tuesday thousands of Catalonians took to the streets to protest the arrest and detention of two leaders of the separatist movement Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cruixart.
Mr Sanchez and Mr Cruixart are facing investigations over a protest on 20 September where the crowd blocked Spanish officers inside a building in Barcelona.