Spain's Supreme Court sentences nine separatist leaders from Catalonia to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid, triggering protests across the region.

Catalonia's sacked separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers has been released with conditions in Belgium after turning themselves in to face a Spanish warrant for their arrest.

A Belgian judge is going to decide on Spain’s arrest warrant for sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his associates after they turned themselves in to Belgian police, a spokesman for Brussels prosecutors says.

Catalonia's deposed separatist leader Carles Puigdemont seeks legal advice in Belgium where he spoke to a lawyer who has worked on asylum cases, as prosecutors in Spain demanded he be charged with rebellion.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards rallies in Catalonia's capital Barcelona, waving national and European flags and chanting "Viva Espana!" to denounce regional lawmakers' vote to sever the region from Spain.

Spain is prepared to impose direct rule in Catalonia, an unprecedented step that risks sparking unrest with secessionists calling on the Catalan parliament to make a defiant declaration of independence.

Spain takes drastic measures to stop Catalonia from breaking away, announcing plans to dismiss its separatist government and call fresh elections in a move the region's leader compared to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Spain is to take unprecedented steps to seize powers from Catalonia's separatist government after Madrid won powerful backing from the king and the EU in its battle to keep the country together.