“I want to congratulate the Catalan people, because they have sent a message to the world. The Catalan republic has beaten the monarchy and article 155. The Spanish state has been beaten. Mr Rajoy and his allies have lost,” Puigdemont said from Brussels where he is hiding from Spanish authorities.

“Now we need to restore democracy, restore our legitimate government, our freedoms. We need to free all those people who are still in prison, but should not be,” he added, as cited by the Guardian.

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The leader of the pro-union Citizens Party – which won the election by a small margin in terms of vote share but with just 37 seats will be unable to form a majority – said Catalan voters are clearly “in favor of union with Spain”. Ines Arrimadas lamented that an “unfair” electoral law had given “more seats to those who have fewer votes in the street”.

Pro-independence parties “can no longer speak on behalf of everyone” because “for the first time, a unionist party has the elections in Catalonia, and it is Citizens,” she added.