Time passes for Catalonia, Spain threatens with war

Carlos Puigdemont's letter to Mariano Rajoy, from 10:00 local time, was made public by local Catalan media, reports “Deutsche Welle”, the Periscopi broadcast.

Puigdemont did not explain whether he had declared Catalan independence, but requested two months of negotiations on the issue with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

In the next two months, our main goal is to invite you to a” dialogue, and allow “international, Spanish and Catalan intermediate “to open a negotiation path”, Rajoy's letter said.

Puigdemont wrote that his regional government wanted to restore “to “the initial steps towards independence until the outcome of these talks, saying it was a demonstration by his government that “thefirma will find a solution and not confrontation”.

However, the letter did not announce that Catalonia's parliament had a “democratic mandate” to declare independence after the controversial 1 October referendum.

Puigdemont's government challenges Spanish authorities by organising the vote. Less than half of eligible voters participated, but of those who voted, approximately 90 per cent supported the secession.

Puigdemont was asked to respond with a “po” or “jo” simple if he had declared independence after making a symbolic declaration of independence last Tuesday and suspended independence by calling for negotiations with Madrid.

He was granted respite until Monday to clarify his position.

Rajoy had earlier warned Puigdemon that any vague answers would be taken as a confirmation that a declaration of independence./Periscopi/