Catalonia has declared independence from Spain, just as the Spanish Senate prepares to vote in favour of imposing a direct rule on the secessionist region.

The vote at the Catalonia parliament comes after a tense week of negotiations aimed at brokering peace between Madrid and Barcelona.

At the Catalonia parliament, 70 Catalan deputies voted in favour of independence, 10 opposed the move and two ballot slips returned blank.

At the announcement of the results, there were rounds of applause in the chamber as the parliamentarians congratulated one another on the outcome.

Ahead of Friday’s decisive vote, opposition parliamentarians had staged a walkout of the chamber in protest.

On Thursday, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont had ruled out calling a snap election, thought to have been a potential way of defusing tension with the central government.

Puigdemont said he had not received sufficient guarantees that Madrid would hold off on its attempts to take control of the region.

Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, took to his Twitter handle, calling for calm and assuring all that the rule of law would be restored in Catalonia.

The Spanish Senate is now expected to vote on Friday, giving the central government in Madrid the authority to impose a direct rule on Catalonia.