The former leader of Catalonia faces 30 years behind bars if he is arrested for rebellion, according to Spain’s attorney general.
It is not clear where Mr Puigdemont is and if his family are with him as he has released only a pre-recorded video message in the wake of Madrid imposing direct rule on the region.
But it is believed he may attempt to go to work in Barcelona as normal tomorrow as protests grip the city.
If Mr Puigdemont does decide to claim political asylum, he may decide to flee to a country such as Belgium which is one of the European Union countries where citizens can seek asylum.
Thousands of people have gathered in Madrid to demand that Catalonia’s rebellion would be put to an end.
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The demonstrators shouted: “Prison for Puigdemont” and “dictators banned” as independence supporters clashed with unity protesters.
Catalan separatists have promised to surround parliament or whereever Mr Puigdemont is in a bid to prevent his arrest as tensions between Madrid and the region reach breaking point.
The Spanish prosecution service has been preparing accusations of rebellion and misuse of public funds against Mr Puigdemont for going ahead with an illegal referendum.
Mr Puigdemont’s declaration of independence on Friday made the leader’s arrest inevitable.
Previously, the Madrid government warned Mr Puigdemont, who has been sacked from office, he would be thrown into prison if he went ahead with a declaration of independence.
On Saturday, in a televised speech, Mr Puigdemont asked the people of Catalonia “to defend our conquests” through the use of civil disobedience.
The government in Madrid has said it would act “with prudence and proportionality” after the police violence when the referendum was taking place.
The deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria has been ordered to rule Catalonia from Madrid.
The British Foreign Office has issued a warning to tourists “to exercise caution” in Catalonia.
Earlier this month Mr Puigdemont said he was not scared of being arrested for organising a banned referendum on the region’s independence from Spain.
At the time of the referendum, the Spanish riot police were pictured using truncheons and rubber bullets on voters in violent scenes, which attracted worldwide criticism.
The referendum result revealed there was a 90 per cent support in favour of Catalonia breaking away from Spain.
On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked the senate to allow him to use Article 155 of Spain’s constitution, which would give him the power to dissolve a regional government and call an early election.
A spokesman for the centre-right ruling Popular party warned Mr Puigdemont could “end up like the former regional leader Lluis Companys”, who declared Catalan independence in 1934.
Companys was jailed soon after and shot six years later by the Franco regime.