Catalan jailings are a serious mistake says Puigdemont

Mr Puigdemont and several ousted Cabinet members remain in Brussels, where he said they are seeking "safety and freedom" while judges back in Spain investigate them for pushing Catalan secession.

Update 9.00pm Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has described the imprisonment of several of his former Cabinet members in a probe over the region's push for independence as "a serious mistake".

In a speech broadcast late on Thursday by Catalan public TV3, Mr Puigdemont called on Catalans to protest against the Spanish authorities "without violence, peacefully and with respect for everybody's opinions".