Catalonia should bide its time before the European Union accepts it into the bloc like Estonia, Lativa and Lithuania, according to Josep-Maria Terricabras.
Mr Terricabras, of the pro-separatist party Republican Left of Catalonia, said the EU was a “club of states”.
He said: “The European Union is not exactly a union, as you probably know, and now with Brexit you know that better.
“It’s a club of states and they protect each other.
“They’ve done this again and again over history when in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, they said ‘no, you are not new countries, you are not free countries, we are not going tor recognise you’.
“Then, some weeks later, they recognise them, they accepted them and they are a member of the union.
“When our leaders in Europe say ‘yes, perhaps tomorrow’, they will say no. I’m not afraid about that and I am not surprised at all.”
Catalonia is now under the direct control of the national government in Madrid after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy officially dismissed Mr Puigdemont earlier this morning.
The Spanish government has since put Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria in charge of the region.
However, Mr Puigdemont and the 12 members of the Catalan Cabinet, who will now no longer be paid and risk arrest, have shown no sign that they are willing to obey orders.
Instead, the sacked leader demanded that his fellow Catalans defend their mandate for independence.
In his call for peaceful resistance to Spain, the separatist pledged to continue working “to build a free country”.