José Manuel García Margallo said dictator Kim and Mr Puigdemont were “the only ones who can call on their countries to commit suicide”.
Mr García Margallo, who served as foreign minister in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party from 2011-2016, was speaking ahead of Mr Puigdemont’s announcement that Catalonia will be pursuing independence.
The Catalan leader announced earlier he wants to “follow the people’s will for Catalonia to become an independent state” in a major speech.
He also called for talks with the government in Madrid as he tried for a peaceful transition.
Mr Puigdemont said: “The ballots say Yes to independence this is the will that I want to go forward with.
“At this historical moment as the president of Catalonia, I want to follow people’s will for Catalonia to become an independent state.
“Today I am here in front of Catalonia and in front of the world.
“Spain made us small, but Catalonia is a European affair.”
The Catalan President also said there would be a delay in declaring independence as he proposed further dialogue with the government in Madrid.
He said: “We propose to suspend the effect of the independence declaration… in order to work towards putting into practice the result of the referendum… Today, we are making a gesture of responsibility in favour of dialogue.”
He went on to address the Spanish people in an attempt to get the country to understand Catalonia’s position in the independence row.
Switching from Catalan to the Spanish language, he said: “We are not criminals, we are not mad. We are normal people, and we just want to vote. We have been ready to talk and have dialogue.
“We have nothing against Spain. We want to have a better understanding with Spain. The relationship hasn’t been working for many years, and now it’s unsustainable.”
This is a historic day for the region and comes after more than 90 per cent of the Catalonians who went to the polls on October 1 voted in favour of independence, although the Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and the King have rejected the results.
Spain has been rocked by the referendum results and the police violence seen against voters in Catalonia has sparked a huge backlash.
Catalan separatists have come out across the region to show their support for the breakaway bid.