Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy allowed 14 members of the Catalan government to be arrested in dawn raids on Wednesday by the Guardia Civil.
Those arrested include members of the Catalan Ministry of the Economy, after officers entered the local government offices of the economy, interior, foreign affairs, welfare, telecommunications and tax departments, local media reported.
Now nearly twenty MPs from the Scottish parliament sent a letter slamming Mr Rajoy, expressing “grave concern at the escalating actions of the Spanish state in Catalonia”.
According to the letter, signed by representatives of the Scottish National Party and members of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Parties, the Spanish government is perpetrating “repressive acts against an elected government, media and citizens” and insisted that “they are in no way democratic acts”.
Scottish MPs propose “dialogue” and “allowing people to express their will democratically”.
They wrote to Mr Rajoy: “We call on you and your government to engage with the Catalan government as partners in facilitating a democratic and just resolution to this situation.”
Among the signers there are 10 members of the Scottish Nationalist Party, the independence formation that governs the territory, but also four Greens, three Labourers, and two Liberal Democrats.
The news comes as a large crowd of people gathered outside the Ministry of the Economy, Barcelona, on Wednesday morning to protest against the arrests.
Hundreds of protestors chanted “they will not pass” and “we will vote”.
And Barcelona mayor Ada Colau wrote on Twitter: “It’s scandalous that they’re raiding institutions and arresting public servants for political reasons. We defend Catalan institutions.”
The Catalan Government slammed the “aggressive” operation, saying: “So far, 12 government workers have been detained in what can only be described as a shameful attack on Catalonia’s autonomy.”
But Mr Rajoy defended the raids, saying: “Government is doing what it has to do, fulfilling its obligations, and we’ll do it until the end.”