Catalonia’s regional president said he would formally declare independence if Spain starts the process of suspending the region’s autonomy on Thursday.

The region’s leader Carles Puigdemont told a meeting of his party on Wednesday that not only he would not back down but that he would press ahead with a more formal declaration of independence if Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suspends Catalonia’s political autonomy, a Catalan government source reported.

It is not yet clear how and when this declaration would take place and whether it would be endorsed by the regional assembly, though many pro-independence lawmakers have openly said they wanted to hold a vote in the Catalan parliament to make it more solemn.

Madrid has given Thursday as a deadline for the regional government to back down from a symbolic independence declaration made last week, or face direct rule from the capital.

If Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy moves to apply direct rule on Thursday, it will take between three and five days for regional autonomy to be effectively suspended.

Source: Reuters