Mr Portillo said the Catalan crisis was heightened by the European Union’s attempts to “weaken” the sovereignty of member states.
Speaking on BBC This Week, the former MP said: “Over the years the European Union has dreamt of a Europe of the regions seeking to weaken nation-states because they represented a competition to the central authority of the European Union, the Commission and so on. And I think we’re now reaping the whirlwind.
“Suddenly we find a major member of the European Union, with a history of violence and civil war, disintegrating before our eyes. I think it will be accompanied by violence.”
The broadcaster said Madrid’s response to the chaotic situation in Catalonia, while justified, would only strengthen the Catalan independence movement.
He continued: “There is no doubt in my mind that the referendum is illegal under the Spanish Constitution and the Spanish Government had every right to point that out.
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“It was intended as a provocation and it has brought an enormous response and that response will now be interpreted as a provocation for the Catalan authorities to seek independence.
“I don’t think the Spanish Government is going to take that line down either, they’ll try to enforce the Constitution and the law.”
The Spanish Constitutional Court suspended the Catalan parliamentary session planned for next week due to fears Catalonia president Carles Puidgemont could take the chance to declare independence.
According to El Pais, the Court accepted a motion presented by the Socialist Party calling for the suspension to avoid the “annihilation of MPs rights.”
In the 2017 edition of its annual TransformingWorld Atlas, Bank of America Merrill Lynch illustrates the growing secessionist movement across the continent.
The report says: “Many areas in Europe have strong secessionist movements (e.g. Scotland, Catalonia, Basque, Flanders, Veneto) or have political parties agitating for greater ruling autonomy.”
Catalonia was an independent region of the Iberian Peninsula with its own language, laws and customs – until the 1700s when modern-day Spain was born.
Spanish riot police used truncheons and rubber bullets on voters in the referendum on Sunday, drawing worldwide criticism and tipping Spain into its biggest constitutional crisis in decades.