REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MADRID -- Catalonia said on Monday it was confident all officials including police would defy attempts by Madrid to enforce direct rule on the region, in an escalating dispute that has raised fears of unrest among Spain's European allies.

The Spanish government has invoked special constitutional powers to fire the regional government and force a new election to counter an independence drive that has rattled the economy. A vote in the Senate to implement direct rule is due on Friday.

But the leaders of the secessionist campaign said a disputed referendum on Oct. 1 gave them the mandate to claim independence from the rest of Spain.

"It's not that we will refuse (orders). It is not a personal decision. It is a seven million-person decision," Catalonia's foreign affairs chief Raul Romeva told BBC radio.

Romeva was asked whether he believed all institutions, including the police, would follow orders from Catalan institutions rather than from the Spanish government.

Also read:  Spain suspends autonomy" href="http://en.republika.co.id/berita/en/international/17/10/19/oy2ci4414-catalonia-to-declare-independence-if-spain-suspends-autonomy" target="_blank">Catalonia to declare independence if Spain suspends autonomy

"And from that perspective, I have no doubt that all civil servants in Catalonia will keep following the instructions provided by the elected and legitimate institutions that we have right now in place (in Catalonia)," he said.

Catalan authorities said about 90 percent of those who took part in the referendum on Oct. 1 voted for independence. But only 43 percent of the electorate and 1 in 3 Catalans participated, with most opponents of secession staying at home.

The Catalan crisis has raised fears among European countries that it could spill over to the rest of the continent.

From Scotland to Flanders and Lombardy, the 2007-09 financial crisis, unemployment and migration have allowed anti-EU and populist parties to feed off discontent with political elites and reopen regional divisions.

Two wealthy regions of northern Italy voted overwhelmingly on Sunday for greater autonomy.

At a European summit last week, leaders sought to minimise Spain's crisis with Catalonia and described the secession bid as a domestic issue.

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