President of Catalonia: We are not planning a "shocking" separation with Spain

The head of Catalonia's regional government, Carles Bigemont, said he was not planning a "shocking" separation with Spain, but wanted a new understanding with the central government in Madrid following the independence referendum on Sunday.
Catalan officials said voters voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession.
Madrid has warned that it could suspend autonomy in the north-eastern region of Spain.
Security services, including the National Police and the Civil Guard, a paramilitary force, confiscated ballot papers and ballot boxes at a number of polling stations.
Some 900 people and 33 police were injured Sunday as a result of the Central Security Agency's attempt to prevent the referendum.
Spain's Constitutional Court has banned the independence referendum and considered it illegal and inconsistent with the Spanish Constitution.
The Catalan authorities said more than 2.2 million people participated in the referendum out of a total of 5.3 million registered voters.
Some 90 percent of voters supported independence, the authorities said.
A Catalan spokesman said more than 750,000 voters were unable to participate in the referendum because polling stations were closed and the referendum equipment was confiscated.

He added that 42.3% is the participation rate in the referendum that the security services tried to prevent.
The Catalonia prime minister said earlier that the province was now entitled to an "independent state".
"In these circumstances mixed with hope and pain, the citizens of Catalonia have the right to an independent state with a republican regime," he said in a televised statement accompanied by a number of officials in Catalonia.
"My government will forward in the next few days the results of the referendum on the Catalan parliament, which represents the sovereignty of the people, to decide on the referendum, and the EU can not turn a blind eye," he said.