The Catalan president, Quim Torra, has given a talk called 'Catalonia: from the Spanish constitutional cage to freedom' in the town hall of Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital city.

And the idea of 'cage' has been a key one during his speech. "The Spanish constitution has become a cage for our hopes and people, a jail for our freedom," he has said.

On Thursday evening, he claimed that "if [Spain] were a democracy it would not force so many people into prison, exile or hunger strike."

Therefore, he called on Europe "not to believe the constitutional farce of Spain."

"I call Europe not to disappoint at this grave hour. Today I call Europe to act, and to act promptly if it still loves democracy," he added.

"Spain will never reform itself to accommodate our aspirations"

Torra explained the independence project he is leading in Catalonia, and said that Spain will never change to accept this project.