Puigdemont says Catalonia to declare independence in 'matter of days' - BBC

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont leaves the stage after a news conference at Generalitat Palace in Barcelona, Spain, October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea

(Reuters) - Catalonia will declare independence "in a matter of days", the region's secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont was quoted as telling the BBC, a move that would defy Madrid and attempt to implement the directive of Sunday's banned independence referendum.

Puigdemont said that his government would "act at the end of this week or the beginning of next", according to an interview with the BBC on Tuesday. (http://bbc.in/2fHFQJx)