Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called on Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Thursday to abandon plans to unilaterally declare the region’s independence from Spain “to avoid greater evils”.

In an interview with Spanish news agency EFE, Rajoy said the solution to the Catalan crisis was a prompt return to legality and “a statement as soon as possible that there will not be a unilateral declaration of independence, because that will also avoid greater evils,” Rajoy said, without elaborating.