"Catalonia restores today its full sovereignty," says the document, called "declaration of the representatives of Catalonia". It was unclear if the document would have any legal value.
"We call on all states and international organisations to recognise the Catalan republic as an independent and sovereign state. We call on the Catalan government to take all necessary measures to make possible and fully effective this declaration of independence and the measures contained in the transition law that founds the republic."
Mr Puigdemont earlier said in a speech that Catalonia's relationship with Spain "unsustainable".
The Spanish government called an emergency cabinet meeting for Wednesday.
Mr Puigdemont's closely scrutinised speech follows the illegal referendum held on
Oct 1. Spain’s constitutional court had judged that the vote broke Spanish law. The plebiscite saw ballot boxes hidden from the authorities and rubber bullets fired at Catalans by police.
“We have won the right to be an independent country,” said Mr Puigdemont. “The ballots say yes to independence and this is the will I want to go forward with.”
“As the president of Catalonia I want to follow the people’s will for Catalonia to become an independent state,” he said to applause in the regional parliament.
“I ask for the mandate to make Catalonia an independent republic.” Mr Puigdemont earlier asked the Catalan parliament for the implementation of independence to be “suspended for a few weeks to open a period of dialogue”.
“The only way to go forward is democracy and peace, that means to respect people who think differently,” he said.
The Catalan leader was under pressure to back down after the EU strongly supported Spain and its prime minister Mariano Rajoy.
Mr Puigdemont's pleas for the EU to mediate between Barcelona and Madrid fell on deaf ears, with Brussels insisting the referendum was illegal and that it was an internal matter for Spain. The European Commission is likely to comment tomorrow rather than this evening, The Telegraph understands.
Right up to the start of his speech, which was delayed by an hour as the various pro-independence parties negotiated behind closed doors, Mr Puigdemont received requests not to go ahead with the declaration.
Representatives of Spain’s main national parties pleaded with the Catalan president to avoid deepening Spain’s biggest political crisis since democracy was restored after the death of General Franco in 1975.
Threats by banks and local businesses to pull out of the region, as well as pro-unity demonstrations in Barcelona may also have helped convince Mr Puigdemont to step back from the brink.
"Catalonia is a European issue,” Mr Puigdemont said, adding that the EU should defend its democratic values after seeing how Spanish security forces had acted in an effort to carry out a court order to prevent the referendum
“This was the first time in Europe that an election took place with the police beating people as they tried to cast their vote.”
EU leaders had urged Mr Puigdemont not to unilaterally declare independence. Earlier on Tuesday, European Council President Donald Tusk addressed him directly in a speech in Brussels: "The force of arguments is always better than the argument of force.
"Today I ask you to respect - in your intentions - the constitutional order and not to announce a decision that would make such a dialogue impossible. "
In the days after the referendum in which Catalan authorities claim that 90 per cent of a 43 per cent turnout cast a vote in favour of independence, Mr Rajoy has rejected any suggestion of negotiation or mediation while Mr Puigdemont refused to back down from the plan declaring independence.
Mr Puigdemont’s announcement sparked scenes of celebration outside the regional parliament in the streets of Barcelona, where thousands had gathered to watch the speech on a giant screen.
Xavier Turo, a 45-year-old electrician, travelled from the village of Sentmenat with his wife Barcelona to watch what he hoped would prove to be a historic day.
“We are nervous, but happy. We have been waiting a long time for this. Our government is risking their necks for us,” Mr Turo said.
Not even all Catalans in favour of independence are convinced that the current impasse will lead to a better future.
Xavier, who works as a secondary schoolteacher in Oxfordshire and preferred not to give his full name, is worried that he will return home to his native Catalonia to find a “continued state of occupation of state forces”.
Although the 35-year-old is in favour of independence for Catalonia, he is critical of the fact that “there has been no debate about the future country. We cannot start building it like this”.
The Telegraph
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