The Spanish government “expects” the Catalan leader to participate in the election

The Spanish government has declared it will welcome the participation of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont in regional elections to be held in December.

Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo in an interview said that if Puigdemont wanted to continue in politics then he had the right to do so.

De Vigo said this time regional Catalan police would abide by the law, as the Spanish government dismissed Catalan regional officials.

The official underlined that if Puigdemont refuses to abandon his office and post, then the government will try to co-operate with intelligence.

Asked what would happen if Puigdemont was prosecuted by the tribunal, Mendez said that judicial and political competencies are divided in Spain, and according to his statement “nobody is above the” law.

Earlier, Spain's president, Puigdemont, after declaring Catalonia's independence, called for a strong democratic opposition to Madrid's decision.

While Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy applied Article 155 of the Constitution, giving the decision to break up regional parliament and the dismissal of the Catalonian government, Rajoy said the new regional elections in Catalonia would be held on December 21st.

Yesterday, thousands of protesters surrounded Madrid's Columbus Square to protect Spanish national unity and the Constitution.

The protest, organised by the Spanish National Protection Foundation, was also attended by official Spanish authorities.

Roads around the square were all blocked while protesters held their hands on banners on which they wrote: “Pugdemont in prison” and “There is no law without democracy” Protest organisers said they would retake Catalonia under the Constitutional Law and that they would fight any official who divided Spain.

Spanish officials have defined Catalonia's declaration of independence as a <x0-rich state” against rule of law, against Constitution and against Catalonia itself.