Puigdemont called for the EU to consider Catalonia's desire to break away from Spain as a Europe-wide issue and urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government to accept mediation. And Spain's interior minister said the 5,000 extra officers deployed to Catalonia would stay as long as necessary. So far, most European governments, the U.S. and most international bodies have backed Spain in its stance against Catalan independence, fearing that Catalonia could unleash a wave of secessionist movements. Polls consistently show that while most of its 7.5 million inhabitants favored a referendum, they are roughly evenly split on independence from Spain. Those in favor of secession argue that the region contributes more to the national government than it receives in return.

Source: ABC News October 02, 2017 07:31 UTC