Catalonia's foreign minister speaking on BBC Radio 4 23 Oct

  • EU democracy will not be credible if it allows Spain to impose direct rule
  • all institutions inc police need to follow instructions from democratically elected Catalan institutions
  • no one but the Catalan people has the right to change Catalan institutions

Meanwhile Spain's dep PM says Madrid has not had any contact with Catalan govt since Saturday.

  • central govt may choose a single representative to govern Catalonia temporarily
  • Catalan leader will lose all powers and stop receiving salary once senate approves direct intervention

The uncertainty continues and we're seeing EURUSD down to test 1.1750 again on general USD demand but with the IBEX now down -0.5% with banks getting particular attention.