Catalonia's parliament has passed a motion saying it will establish an independent Catalan Republic.
Legislators erupted in applause as the vote was approved with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and two blank ballots.
Most opposition members had left the chamber in protest moments before the vote.
Spain opposes the independence bid and the national government in Madrid is readying measures to take over control of the north-eastern region. No country has expressed support for the secession bid.
The motion calls for beginning an independence process that includes drafting Catalonia's new top laws and opening negotiations "on equal footing" with Spanish authorities to establish co-operation.
Spain's prime minister had earlier urged the Senate to grant special constitutional measures that would allow the central government to take control of Catalonia's autonomous powers to halt the independence bid.
Mariano Rajoy, who received rapturous applause before and after his impassioned speech in the Senate in Madrid, told the chamber Spain was facing a challenge not seen in its recent history.
What is happening in Catalonia is "a clear violation of the laws, of democracy, of the rights of all, and that has consequences", he said.
Mr Rajoy said the government's first move would be to dismiss Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his regional ministers if the Senate approves the Spanish government's use of Article 155 of the constitution in a vote later on Friday.
The special measures, he said, were the only way out of the crisis, adding that Spain is not trying to take away liberties from Catalans but instead protect them.
Thousands of people watched the voting process and the counting live on big screens outside Catalonia's parliament in Barcelona, and cheered and danced after the motion was passed.
Mr Puigdemont and vice president Oriol Junqueras exchanged congratulatory embraces and handshakes after the vote.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel