Catalonia MAPPED: Where is Catalonia and why does it want independence from Spain?
What is happening in Catalonia? On Sunday, October 1, an overwhelming majority of Catalan voters chose independence from Spain, according to Catalonia's pro-separatist government.
Officials said that 90 per cent of the 2.26 million who voted in the referendum chose Yes, with turnout at 42.6 per cent of the electorate.
This number did not include the number of ballots confiscated by Spanish police in violent raids across the region. Spains Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejected the result and denied that Catalonia had held a referendum.
Officers clad in masks and riot gear fired rubber bullets into crowds and beat citizens queueing to vote in the referendum, which the Spanish Government has called illegal.
Polling stations were smashed up and ballot boxes forcibly removed, while shocking video footage showed elderly voters left bleeding and young women being dragged by their hair. The Catalan Government claimed that 844 people were injured.
Today thousands of Catalans have gone on general strike in protest at the police violence.
Schools and universities have closed and public transport in Barcelona has shuddered to a halt. FC Barcelona is joining in with the strike, as are the staff at the Sagrada Familia, one of the region's most popular tourist sites.
"An attack on democracy without precedent in recent times calls for a united response," said Javier Pacheco, the secretary general in Catalonia of the Comisiones Obreras union.
"We have called on all sectors to take part." Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has said that he is not seeking a "traumatic split, but a "new understanding with the Spanish state".
He has called on the EU to mediate between the Catalonian Government in Barcelona and the Spanish Government in Madrid, who he says have had no contact since the vote.
Why does Catalan want independence? The Catalonian independence movement argues that the region has the right to self-determination due to its rich culture, political beliefs and strong economy.
Many believe that Catalonia puts more into Spain than it gets out, with support for independence growing during the country's economic crisis.
Last year Catalan accounted for 19 per cent of the nation's GDP, despite forming 16 per cent of its population. Its 2016 output was €212 billion, similar to the economies of Finland and Portugal.
Employment rates are low relative to the rest of Spain, at 13.2 per cent vs 17.2 per cent. Its average income is €4,600 higher than Spain's at €28,600, however it has more debt at 35 per cent of GDP vs 2.8 per cent GDP.
The would-be nation has its own flag and language (Catalan – which has equal status with Spanish). Catalonia has had its own regional government since the Spanish Constitution was signed in 1978.
Prior to that there had been autonomous rule in the 13th, 17th and 20th centuries. However in 2010 Spain's constitutional court issued a landmark ruling that set limits on Catalan claims to being a nation, sparking a new wave of nationalism.
The region's president at the time, Jose Montilla, called the ruling an "attack on the dignity of Catalans". Where is Catalonia? Catalonia is a roughly triangular region in north-east Spain which is separated from the south of France by the Pyrenean mountains.
It has a population of 7.5 million spread across 948 municipalities – the largest of which, Barcelona, is home to 1.6 million people. Other major cities include Girona, Tarragona and Lleida.
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