Catalonia referendum: “Everyone will be hit!” Official THREATENS Brussels over EU status

The Catalan delegate to the European Union said “all parties” involved in the Catalonia independence debate would be hit should the region be forced to leave the EU.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, Mr Altafaj said: “All the parties would be affected by such a situation. The Spanish party, the Catalan party and our European partners.

“We are already in the EU and this can be negotiated with the EU. We don’t see who would have the interest to see the slightest disruption, the slightest discontinuity with the current situation.

Mr Altafaj said the Catalan government tried to enter “serious political dialogue” with Madrid but had been ignored.

The official said he was impressed by the turn-out of the vote despite attempts to thwart the referendum.

Brussels refused to condemn the actions of Spanish police in Catalonia after clashes between riot-clad officers and unarmed voters left more than 800 people injured.

Its determination to protect Madrid from the ramifications of police actions may stick in the throat in other parts of the world, where EU officials have been swift to offer condemnation of similar scenes of violence.

The president of Catalonia Carles Puidgemont announced the region would break off from Spain “within 48 hours” after receiving the final referendum results from abroad.

He said the declaration would come by the end of this week or the beginning of the next at the latest

Despite having accepted autonomy within the Spanish Republic in 1931, Catalonia has a long-established history of dissent towards Spanish rule.

Many believe that Catalonia puts more into Spain than it gets out, with support for independence growing during the country’s economic crisis.

Last year Catalan accounted for 19 per cent of the nation’s GDP, despite forming 16 per cent of its population.

Its 2016 output was €212 billion, similar to the economies of Finland and Portugal.