Spain will trigger Article 155 of its constitution on Saturday, allowing the suspension of Catalonia's political autonomy, the prime minister's office has said.

A special cabinet meeting was called after Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said the regional parliament could vote on a formal declaration of independence from Spain if the central government failed to agree to talks.

A government statement read: "The Spanish government will continue with the procedures outlined in Article 155 of the constitution to restore legality in Catalonia's self-government."

Madrid had set a Thursday morning deadline for Mr Puigdemont to clarify whether or not he had declared independence in an ambiguous statement last week, and to drop his bid to separate from Spain.

In a letter sent to the government just as the deadline passed, Mr Puigdemont said he would go ahead with a unilateral declaration of independence "if the central government persists in preventing dialogue and continuing repression".