"The king has adopted the (national) government's position and policies which have been disastrous with regard to Catalonia. He is deliberately ignoring millions of Catalans," Mr Puigdemont said in a televised address.

"This moment calls for mediation. We have received various offers in the last hours and we will receive more. All of them know I am ready to start a mediation process.

"I will repeat it as many times as necessary: dialogue and agreement are part of the political culture of our people. However, the state has not given any positive answer to those offers."

"I am sure that in the next few days we will show the best of our country when the institutions of Catalonia will have to apply the results of the referendum," Mr Puigdemont said on Wednesday night.