Thousands celebrate in Barcelona after Catalan independence declaration

Crowds of jubilant independence supporters continued to celebrate outside Catalonia's government headquarters in Barcelona on Friday evening after the regional parliament declared independence from Spain.

The Madrid government sacked Catalonia's president and dismissed its parliament on Friday, hours after the region declared itself an independent nation in Spain's gravest political crisis since the return of democracy four decades ago.

A new regional election will be held in Catalonia on December 21, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a televised address on a day of high drama.

As well as removing Carles Puigdemont as head of the autonomous region, he also fired its police chief and said central government ministries would take over the Catalan administration.

TRT World's Sarah Morice reports from Barcelona.

Rajoy sacks Catalan government, calls for election

"We believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, to all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf," Rajoy said in a televised speech.

The office of the regional prime minister and deputy prime minister has been abolished, the prime minister said.

He said the Spanish government is firing the head of Catalan regional police, shutting down Catalonia's foreign affairs department and dismissing its delegates in Brussels and Madrid.

"We never wanted to come to this point," he said and the aim is "to return (Catalonia) to normality and legality as soon as possible."

Rajoy made his public address after the Spanish Senate approved direct rule in Catalonia.

The crisis has split Catalonia and caused deep resentment around Spain - national flags now hang from many balconies in the capital in an expression of unity.

Catalonia is one of Spain's most prosperous regions and already has a high degree of autonomy. 

But it has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.

TRT World's Angela Murphy reports.

Move to impose direct rule

Earlier on Friday, the parliament of Catalonia voted to declare independence from Spain after lawmakers of the region voted in a secret ballot.

The regional parliament passed a motion to begin a "constituent process" to split from Spain, shortly before beginning the vote on whether to declare independence from the rest of the country.

Lawmakers from the Socialist Party, the People's Party (PP) and Ciudadanos left the chamber before the vote in protest, leaving just the pro-independence groups Junts pel Si, CUP and the Podemos-associated Catalunya Si Que Es Pot to cast a ballot.

The Spanish government moved to impose direct rule over the region less than an hour after its parliament declared independence.

Global reaction

The European Union on Friday spurned Catalonia's declaration of independence, voicing staunch support for Madrid in a crisis threatening the stability of a key member of the bloc as Brussels grapples with Brexit.

President Donald Tusk said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor" after Catalan lawmakers voted to secede from Spain.

Britain, France and Germany all swiftly closed ranks behind Rajoy and European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani tweeted that "nobody in the EU will recognise" the Catalan declaration.

Senior EU officials have been candid in their opposition to Catalan independence, warning of a domino effect in a continent with numerous separatist movements from Britain to Belgium to Romania.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned Friday that the 28-member bloc "doesn't need any more cracks, more splits" during a trip to French Guiana in South America.

"We shouldn't insert ourselves into what is an internal debate for Spain, but I wouldn't want the European Union to consist of 95 member states in the future," he added.

“The decision announcing independence, which was taken by the Catalan autonomous region's Parliament today, is not a step in the right direction,” Turkey’s EU Minister Omer Celik said in a statement.

Scotland in favour

Scotland's independence-minded devolved government said it respected the position of the Catalonian regional government that declared independence from Spain on Friday.

"While Spain has the right to oppose independence, the people of Catalonia must have the ability to determine their own future," Scottish Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said in a statement. "Today’s Declaration of Independence came about only after repeated calls for dialogue were refused."

Rebellion charges

Spain's public prosecutor's office will file rebellion charges next week against Catalan secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont, a spokesman said Friday.

A court will then decide whether to accept the charges against Puigdemont. Under Spanish law, the crime of "rebellion" is punishable by up to 30 years in jail.

Pro-independence supporters cheer vote

While Rajoy was speaking on television, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the Catalan regional headquarters in Barcelona, their earlier joyful mood somewhat dampened by Rajoy's actions.

Tens of thousands of independence supporters had massed near the Catalan parliament earlier, cheering with joy after a majority of separatist lawmakers voted to declare independence from Spain and proclaim a republic.

Watching proceedings in parliament on two large screens, they clapped and shouted "independence" and "liberty" in Catalan before singing the regional hymn, many raising their fists.

Among them was Monica Sanz, 44, a university lecturer who wore a Catalan flag around her neck.

"We tried all peaceful means. Moderate people have reached this point because it was impossible to make an agreement with Spain," she said.

The soon-to-be-sacked Carles Puigdemont left the chamber to shouts of "President!" and mayors who had come from outlying areas brandished their ceremonial batons and sang the Catalan anthem "Els Segadors" (The Reapers).

"Catalonia is and will be a land of freedom. In times of difficulty and in times of celebration. Now more than ever", Puigdemont said on Twitter.

Catalonia held an independence referendum on October 1 which was declared illegal by Madrid and marred by heavy-handed national police tactics to stop it.

Although the referendum endorsed independence, it drew only a 43 percent turnout as Catalans who oppose independence largely boycotted it.