Catalan parliament speaker, Roger Torrent, visited the Scottish parliament on Thursday, where he held up Scotland's authorized referendum on independence in 2014 as an example that the Spanish authorities could "learn" from.

After meeting with Scottish counterpart, Ken Macintosh, Torrent asked Spain to show "less eagerness in silencing institutions and the voice of the public and more courage in finding a democratic solution to the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain."

Torrent also said that in his meeting with Macintosh, the Scottish speaker expressed the chamber's "concern" about the situation in Catalonia, and he also pointed out that the chamber in Scotland had held debates and passed resolutions on the Catalan affair.

"The democratic chambers of mature democracies do not understand what is happening in our country," said Torrent, who went on to meet with spokespeople and MPs from the different political parties in the Scottish parliament.

A day after a Spanish high court suspended decrees to set up more Catalan foreign offices, Torrent also defended the need for Catalonia to have a "foreign policy" in order to explain its situation around the world, even if it makes the Spanish authorities feel "very nervous."