Catalonia's leader clarified Thursday that independence had not been declared, but warned he could go ahead with announcing a split from Spain if Madrid follows through on a threat to suspend the region's autonomy.

"If the central government persists in preventing dialogue and continuing repression, Catalonia's parliament could proceed, if it considers it timely, to vote for a formal declaration of independence that it didn't vote for on October 10," Carles Puigdemont wrote, after highlighting Madrid's threat to suspend its regional autonomy