Catalan leader says region will declare independence

BARCELONA — Spain was braced for further political upheaval yesterday after Catalonia's leader said the region would declare independence "in a matter of days."

Carles Puigdemont said his government would "act at the end of this week or the beginning of next," the Catalan regional leader told the BBC in an interview Tuesday.

He spoke after hundreds of thousands of Catalans rallied in fury over violence by police against voters during a banned referendum on independence for their region on Sunday.

The central government and national courts branded the referendum illegal.

But Catalan leaders claimed the results showed the region had the right to secede and said they may unilaterally declare independence.

"We are going to declare independence 48 hours after all the official results are counted," Puigdemont said in the interview.

His remarks came hours after Spain's King Felipe VI ratched up tensions by urging authorities to defend "constitutional order."

Felipe's dramatic intervention late Tuesday aimed to calm Spain's deepest political crisis in decades, but risked further fanning resentment in the region.

Felipe, 49, abandoned his previously measured tone over tensions with Catalonia, accusing its leaders of acting outside the law.

"With their irresponsible conduct they could put at risk the economic and social stability of Catalonia and all of Spain," he said.