The Catalan government wants to hold a referendum on October 1 to allow the region to decide whether it should be self-governed.
However, Spain’s constitutional court has branded the vote illegal and Madrid has even threatened to arrest any of the region’s mayors who take part or enable the vote to take place.
Earlier this week, Spanish prosecutors summoned for questioning more than 700 mayors who had said they would allow municipal spaces to be used for voting.
Catalonia’s mayors have responded boldly to the threat by heading to the region’s capital to meet with regional head Carles Puigdemont and promise supporters they will continue to back the referendum.
Supporters chanted “we will vote” and “independence” in downtown Barcelona as tensions rise between Catalonian officials and the Spanish government.
Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, who has reached an agreement with the Catalan regional government to allow voting in the city, hit back at Madrid’s response to the crisis in a short speech in the city hall.
She said: “It’s a disgrace that we have a government that is incapable of dialogue and instead dedicates itself to pursuing and intimidating mayors and the media.”
Yesterday, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy called for a return to “rationality and legality” and promised to block the vote.
He said: “The only thing I ask of [Catalan] mayors is that they comply with the law, and as such don’t participate in an illegal referendum.”
Despite being a domestic issue, authorities in Brussels have also waded into the debate.
President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani warned a hypothetical independent Catalonia “would start from scratch” with the European Union – meaning the Catalans would automatically cease to be European citizens.
In an interview with El Periódico de Catalunya, he said: “Catalonia would have to ask for the negotiation of a commercial agreement, access to the internal market…
“And then we would have to see how Europe would respond, including Spain.”
Although he acknowledged people supported the Catalan independence cause, he stressed it was import not to “violate the constitution” in order to hold the vote.
He added: “Those are the rules.”
Catalonia is one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions. Its capital is the dynamic, touristic and cultural Mediterranean port city of Barcelona.
The region has 7.5 million inhabitants and is one of Spain’s main economic powerhouses, generating a fifth of the country’s €1.1trillion economy.
It has its own language, which was suppressed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, and cultural traditions. It is also home to one of the world’s greatest football teams, FC Barcelona.