Catalan secessionists are working towards a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain that could be adopted next week in defiance of a court order and increased economic pressure from Madrid.
After Spain's Constitutional Court suspended a session of the Catalan regional parliament set for Monday, which had been expected to endorse an independence declaration, the parliament said the region's pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont would address the assembly at 6pm local time on Tuesday.
Madrid apologised for the first time on Friday for police use of violence in trying to hinder a weekend referendum it had declared illegal. That crackdown raised the temperature of a confrontation that has grown into the worst political crisis for decades in Spain.
A Catalan legislator was quoted by El Mundo newspaper as saying secessionist parties in the Catalan parliament were discussing an independence declaration to be submitted to the assembly next Tuesday.
The stakes are high for the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. Catalonia is the source of a huge chunk of its tax revenue and hosts multinationals from car-maker Volkswagen to drugs firm AstraZeneca.
The Catalan region's head of foreign affairs, Raul Romeva, told the BBC earlier that the Catalan parliament intended to make a decision on independence, without specifying when.
The Spanish government stepped up economic pressure on the Catalan government on Friday by passing a law to make it easier for companies to move their operations around the country, potentially dealing a blow to the region's finances.
Within hours of the government's move, CaixaBank, Spain's third-biggest lender and Catalonia's biggest company, said its board had decided to move its registered office to Valencia "in light of the current political and social situation in Catalonia".
Catalonia-based utility Gas Natural said its board had decided to move its registered office to Madrid for as long as the legal uncertainty in Catalonia continued.
They joined a number of other Catalonia-based companies, including Sabadell, Spain's fifth-largest lender, that have already announced plans this week to move their registered offices elsewhere in Spain.
Amid calls from many groups, including Barcelona soccer club, for a mediated solution to the stand-off, Swiss state broadcaster RTS said neutral Switzerland was ready to help forge dialogue between the Spanish government and Catalonia.
The foreign ministry said Switzerland was in touch with Spain and Catalonia but conditions for talks were not yet ripe.
Puigdemont has called for international mediation to find a way out of the impasse.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered all-party political talks to find a solution, opening the door to a deal giving Catalonia more autonomy, but only if the Catalan government gives up any independence ambitions.
Final referendum results released by the Catalan regional government on Friday showed 90.18 per cent support for breaking away among the nearly 2.3 million people who voted. But turnout was only about 43 per cent as Catalans who favour remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.
