Catalan declaration of independence
On 27 October 2017, a resolution based on the "Declaration of the representatives of Catalonia" declaring the independence of Catalonia was voted in the Parliament and was approved with 70 votes in favor, 10 against, and 2 blank votes. Fifty-three MPs from the opposition refused to be present during the voting after the legal services of the Catalan Parliament advised that the voting could not take place, as the law on which it was based had been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court. The two pro-independence parties, JxSí and CUP, had 72 seats, and the vote in favour of independence obtained 70.
2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
On 5 October, Banco Sabadell, the second-largest bank based in Catalonia, announced its decision to move its legal headquarters out of the region amid economic uncertainty over the future of Catalonia's political situation ahead of a projected unilateral declaration of independence the ensuing week, which had seen sharp falls in the group's share prices the previous day and rating agencies downgrading the region. Concurrently, CaixaBank, the biggest bank in the region and the third largest in Spain, also announced it was considering redomiciling outside Catalonia. This sparked a massive business exit in the ensuing hours, with companies such as Abertis, Gas Natural, Grifols, Fersa Energias Renovables, Agbar, Freixenet, Codorníu, Idilia Foods, San Miguel Beer and Planeta Group also announcing or considering their intention to move their HQs out of Catalonia. The Spanish government announced on Friday 6 October that it would issue a decree allowing companies based in Catalonia to move out of the region without holding a shareholders' meeting. Within two weeks, more than 1,000 business and firms would move out of Catalonia. Simultaneously, far-right groups increasingly took to the streets throughout Spain in a quest to defend Spanish unity, with some gatherings leading to violent scuffles in Barcelona and Valencia. This sparked concerns among analysts that the Catalan crisis could lead to a rise of the far-right in Spain after decades on the margins. The Mossos d'Esquadra were put under investigation for disobedience, accused of not complying with a command from the High Court of Justice of Catalonia to prevent the referendum and with their pasivity allowing polling stations to open.
In an ambiguous speech during a parliamentary session in the Parliament of Catalonia on 10 October, Puigdemont declared that "Catalonia had earned the right to be an independent state" and that he defended "the mandate of the people of Catalonia to become an independent republic". However, he immediately announced that parliament would suspend a formal declaration of independence in order to pursue dialogue with the Spanish government. Puigdemont and other pro-independence deputies then signed a symbolic declaration of independence with no legal effect. Puigdemont's move came after pressure resulting from the business exit on the previous days as well as pleas from Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau and European Council President Donald Tusk urging him to step back from declaring independence. This was met with disappointment from thousands of pro-independence supporters who had gathered nearby to watch the session on giant screens, as well as criticism from the CUP, who voiced their discontent at Puigdemont's decision not to proclaim a Catalan republic right away and did not rule out abandoning the Parliament until the signed declaration of independence was effective.