Spain’s constitutional court has moved to stop the Catalan government making a unilateral declaration of independence by suspending the regional parliament session in which the results of Sunday’s referendum were due to be discussed.

On Thursday, the court upheld a challenge by Catalonia’s Socialist party – which opposes secession from Spain – ruling that allowing the Catalan parliament to meet on Monday and potentially declare independence would violate the rights of the party’s MPs.

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The court warned that any session carried out in defiance of its ban would be “null”, and added that the parliament’s leaders could face criminal action if they ignored the court order.

Carme Forcadell, president of the Catalan parliament, said Monday’s session had not yet been formally convened, but that the court’s decision to suspend it “harms freedom of expression and the right of initiative of members of this parliament and shows once more how the courts are being used to solve political problems.”



The Catalan government is understood to be meeting to discuss its response to the latest move by the court. It has previously ignored the constitutional court’s rulings, not least its order to suspend the referendum itself.



In a television address on Wednesday evening, the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, repeated his calls for mediation and dialogue with the Spanish government, but said the results of the vote would be put before parliament. “On Sunday we had a referendum under the most difficult circumstances and set an example of who we are,” he said. “Peace and accord is part of who we are. We have to apply the results of the referendum. We have to present the results of the referendum to parliament.”



Speaking ahead of Thursday’s court decision, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said the situation would only escalate further if the Catalan government carried on the path of a unilateral declaration. “Is there a solution? Yes, there is,” Rajoy told the Spanish news agency Efe. “And the best one would be a return to legality and the swiftest possible confirmation that there won’t be a unilateral independence declaration, because that way still greater harm could be avoided.”



Thursday’s court ruling raises the question of how the Spanish state will respond if Catalans decide to push ahead with Monday’s session.

The Madrid government has refused to rule out invoking article 155 of the constitution. The article, which has never been used, makes provision for the central government to step in and take control of an autonomous region if it “does not fulfil the obligations imposed upon it by the constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain”.

However, given the heightened tensions in Catalonia and the huge protests seen across the region this week, the move could prove counterproductive, and Puigdemont has already warned that the the triggering of the article would be the Spanish government’s “ultimate mistake”.

The Catalan government says that hundreds of people were injured on Sunday after Spanish police attempted to halt the independence referendum by raiding polling stations, beating voters and firing rubber bullets at crowds.



Play Video 0:45 Catalonia referendum: Police drag protesters out of polling stations - video

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild on Thursday, Puigdemont said he had not discounted the possibility that he could be arrested, but said he was not afraid. “I’m not surprised any more about what the Spanish government is doing,” he said. “My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”

The Catalan president has also accused King Felipe of Spain of acting as a mouthpiece for the Spanish government after the monarch accused Catalan authorities of attempting to break “the unity of Spain”.

In a rare strongly worded television address on Tuesday, the king described the regional government’s actions as “an unacceptable attempt” to take over Catalan institutions and said it had placed itself outside democracy and the law.



Play Video 1:13 King Felipe accuses Catalan authorities of fracturing Spanish solidarity – video

Puigdemont on Wednesday said he was disappointed by the king’s intervention. “The king endorses the discourse and policies of the government of Rajoy, which have been catastrophic for Catalonia and deliberately ignore the millions of Catalans who do not think like them,” he said.

Directly addressing the king, he added: “Not like this. Your decision yesterday disappointed many people in Catalonia.”

Despite the Spanish authorities’ attempts to stop the referendum, which the government and the constitutional court had declared illegal, 2.26 million of Catalonia’s 5.3 million registered voters took part. The figures suggest that the turnout was about 43%, as many Catalans who oppose independence boycotted the poll for fear of lending it legitimacy.

According to the Catalan government, 90% of participants voted for independence. However, a full count of the votes has been complicated by the fact that many ballot boxes were removed from polling stations by police.