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The Spanish government has once again called on the president of Catalonia to act sensibly and call of his declaration of independence by a new deadline set for Thursday.

"I ask Puigdemont to act sensibly, in a balanced way, to put the interests of all citizens first," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in parliament.

But Catalonia's government rejected Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's deadline.

"Giving in forms no part of this government's scenarios," Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said. "On Thursday, we won't give anything different than what we gave on Monday."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Spanish government detained some separatist leaders as they await trial and this led to protests all over Catalonia.

People held up lighted candles, whistled and shouted "freedom" and "out with the occupying forces".

"There should not be political prisoners in a democratic country in the 21st century. This country is not democratic. I‘m here to support democracy," said Alicia Cabreriza, a 26-year-old computer programmer from Barcelona.

The protests ended peacefully at around 20:00 GMT.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, in a tweet following the detentions, said: "Sadly, we have political prisoners again."

This crisis between Spain and its regional government in Catalonia has continued to create a huge divide across the country and things could become worse if the Catalan President refuses to withdraw his independence declaration by Thursday.