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As he announced on Tuesday, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has begun a round of talks with the leaders of the parties that ran in the last Catalan elections supporting the right to self-determination. Mas aims to gather views and proposals about future scenarios and early elections. This includes the parties that backed the current self-determination process and the organisation of a consultation vote on November 9, by reaching an agreement in December 2013. But it also includes the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), which ran in November 2012 backing a legal self-determination vote but whose previous and current leaderships do not back the current process. After the talks, Mas will take a few days to think, and very likely to talk again with some parties, and on November 24 he will announce his own road map for the next few months.

The left-wing Catalan independence party ERC, which has shared a parliamentary stability agreement with the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU for the last 2 years, is pushing to begin a new political period. The ERC’s leader, Oriol Junqueras, met on Thursday with the President of the Catalan Government and CiU’s leader, Artur Mas, and confirmed to him that they will not back the new budget for 2015. The evening before, Junqueras had presented his road map for the next few months. The ERC wants early elections now, which would become “constituent elections” if a majority of pro-independence parties were to win. Furthermore, the ERC prefers to run alone, not in a shared electoral list. If Catalans voted for a majority of pro-independence parties, the new Parliament would start building the new state’s basic structures and drafting a Constitution, which would have to be later ratified through a binding referendum.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, downplayed November 9's participatory process and he totally rejected the opportunity to negotiate the organisation of a mutually-agreed self-determination referendum for Catalonia. After 2.3 million citizens gave their opinion on independence on Sunday, on Wednesday Rajoy spoke in public for the first time and said he considered November 9's non-binding vote to be "a deep failure of the pro-independence project", as "2 out of every 3 Catalans did not bother to participate in it", dishonestly ignoring the Spanish Government's threats and obstacles and mixing up figures. Furthermore, he rejected the offer to negotiate sent by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas. Rajoy strongly criticised Mas for pretending to "impose" dialogue about "an illegal defiance". In addition, the Spanish PM did not offer any political solution for Catalonia's situation, except for totally blocking any Constitutional Reform. All parties in Catalonia were extremely disappointed by Rajoy's words, except of course the PP's Catalan branch.

After the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, urged the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, "to sit and talk" about taking the necessary steps to allow Catalans to hold a legal independence referendum, the Spanish Government totally rejected the idea on the same day. On top of this, Spain's Public Prosecutor's Office – whose boss is appointed by the Spanish Justice Minister and directly reports to him – is about to file a judicial complaint against Mas, the Catalan Vice President and, probably, the Catalan Education Minister for November 9's citizen participation process, in which 2.3 million Catalans gave their opinion on independence through ballot boxes located in public high-schools. However, Mas pointed out that Rajoy had stated on Saturday that Catalonia's participation process "was not a referendum, nor a consultation, nor anything similar".

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, assessed November 9's participatory process, when 81% of the 2.3 million participants voted for independence, despite the Spanish Government's obstacles and threats. On Tuesday, Mas asked the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, to stop ignoring reality and start negotiating a mutually-agreed referendum on independence, like that in Scotland and Quebec. Taking into account Rajoy's attitude for the last 2 years, Mas was said to be "quite sceptical" but highlighted that Catalan representatives have always wanted a mutually-agreed vote, which is "the best" option. Mas also announced he was starting a round of talks with pro-self-determination parties – including the Socialists (PSC) – "to listen to everybody" about organising plebiscitary elections. In fact, he warned Rajoy that plebiscitary elections on independence can be called if he continues to refuse to negotiate. Besides, Mas confirmed that on Saturday that the Catalan Government's website had suffered a cyber-attack on a gigantic-scale, which was "organised by professionals".

On Morning at noon, the definitive results of Sunday's symbolic vote were released by the Catalan Government. 2,305,290 people cast their ballot in November 9's participatory process on independence from Spain, which replaced the original consultation vote that had been banned by the Spanish authorities. Independence clearly won, with 80.76% of the ballots and 1,861,753 votes. 10.07% voters supported a Catalan State within a federal or confederated Spain and 4.54% of participants opposed to the creation of such a federated State and to independence. A cross-party international delegation of observers formed by Members of the European Parliament stated the vote had "been conducted successfully" in "challenging circumstances" and they emphasised the "calm" attitude of citizens. Despite the Spanish Government's pressures and veiled threats, including future actions of the Public Prosecutor Office, a large number of citizens participated in this non-binding vote, run by volunteers and backed by the Catalan Executive and a large part of civil society organisations.

On the 9th of November, Catalans were called to participate and give their opinion about independence from Spain. After the ban from the Spanish authorities of the original consultation vote that was agreed on among a wide majority of the Catalan Parliament, the Catalan Government launched an alternative participation process that replaced the original one, although it also took place on November 9 and offered Catalans the chance to answer the original question. The two-part question was "Do you want Catalonia to become a State? If yes, do you want to become an independent State?" By answering with a double "yes" to the question, citizens back independence from Spain. Those voting "yes" to the first part and "no" to the second back a Catalan State within a federal or confederated Spain. Finally, those voting "no" oppose going beyond the current Autonomous Community model and therefore they support the current 'status quo' or they want recentralisation.

Catalan parties considered the non-binding participatory process to be "a total success" since it sends a strong message: in the near future Catalans want to hold a legal vote on independence. Around 2.25 million people gave their opinion in Sunday's participatory process in a peaceful way, in a symbolic vote without remarkable incidents. With 88% of ballot boxes counted, 81% of them voted for independence, according to figures gathered by the more than 40,000 volunteers and announced by the Catalan Government. An international delegation of observers considered the vote had "been conducted successfully" in "challenging circumstances". In fact, turnout cannot be compared to regular elections (when the total census reaches 5.4 million), since this Sunday's participation process is a non-binding way to gather opinions and it took place in difficult circumstances, with the Spanish Government's total opposition and even threatening attitude. Before knowing these results, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, asked the rest of the world for "help" in convincing the Spanish Government of organising a mutually agreed referendum. Pro-self-determination parties asked Madrid to negotiate while Spanish nationalist parties downplayed the vote and consider it "a fraud".

On November 9, the Spanish Government has once again downplayed the participatory process on independence held in Catalonia. And it did so on the day it took place and just when it finished, after more than 2 million people had peacefully cast their ballot in a non-binding citizen participation process that was organised as a light alternative of the original consultation vote, that had been banned by the Spanish authorities. On Sunday evening, after the polls had closed, the Spanish Justice Minister, Rafael Català, defined the vote as "a useless and sterile simulation" and "a pure act of propaganda", which does not have any democratic validity. In addition, the process was an attempt "to hide the personal failure" of the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, "for not having been able to organise the illegal consultation vote announced in December 2013", which was blocked by the Spanish Executive. In addition, he recalled that the Public Prosecution Office is "gathering data" in order to launch "the required penal actions".

The citizen participation process on independence has kicked off at 9am on November 9 despite the temporary suspension of the Constitutional Court. Finally, the 1,317 voting centres hosting 6,695 polling stations have opened their doors without major incidents, as has been confirmed by the Catalan Government. Long queues of voters were waiting to cast their ballot in a festive atmosphere from early morning. The vote is being run by 40,930 volunteers, but the Catalan Executive is actively behind the process. During the day it will offer turnout figures and it should announce the results on Monday. The ballot boxes are located in high-schools run by the Catalan Government or in municipal centres in small towns and villages. A delegation of international observers is monitoring the process. Several Spanish nationalist parties and organisations have filed judicial complaints asking for the vote to be stopped and members of the Catalan Government to be arrested. In addition, the Public Prosecutor Office – obeying the Spanish Government –asked the Catalan Police to identify the volunteers opening the voting centres, but the Catalan Government refused to do so as they had authorised volunteers to access public venues.

On Sunday, Catalans are being called to give their opinion about independence in a participatory process, organised by the Catalan Government in cooperation with more than 40,000 volunteers and many town halls, which replaces the original consultation vote also scheduled for the 9^th of November. The Spanish Government appealed against the first vote, the Constitutional Court suspended it, the Catalan Government launched an alternative process and the Spanish Government filed a new appeal, accepted by the Constitutional Court. However, this time the non-binding participatory has been maintained with a wide consensus among Catalan institutions a wide representation from the civil society. These are the three last steps of an intense self-determination process, which started with the approval and trimming of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy and was shaped by four massive demonstrations and a series of "no" and threats by the Spanish authorities. Here is a summary of the main milestones of this process before the massive pro-independence demonstration of 2012.

The Constitutional Court rejects calling an urgent meeting to debate the appeal that the Catalan Government filed on Friday against the suspension of Sunday's participatory process, in which it asked the Court for further clarifications about the suspension's exact scope. A month ago, the Court organised an urgent and non-scheduled meeting that took place only 5 hours after the Spanish Government filed its appeal against November 9's consultation vote. However, on this occasion, when the vote is supposed to take place in less than 48 hours and not in 5 weeks time, the Court will not organise an urgent and non-scheduled meeting. In fact, the Court will follow its previously agreed calendar and will meet in 2 weeks time.

Josep Maria Vila d'Abadal, the President of the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), wanted to reassure the mayors that have offered municipal venues to host polling stations on Sunday, particularly in small towns and villages where the Catalan Government does not have facilities of its own. "Mayors do not have to be afraid of anything […] because their legal coverage is guaranteed" stated Vila d'Abadal, who is also the Mayor of Vic (a city in Central Catalonia). He also announced that the AMI – which co-organised the massive pro-independence demonstrations of 2012, 2013 and 2014 – and the Catalan Association of Municipalities will send a letter on Friday reassuring mayors. According to Vila d'Abadal "the future of Catalonia […] as a people" is at stake on November 9. According to him, after Sunday's vote, the most likely scenario is the one leading Catalans towards independence.

Joanquim Coll, Vice President of Societat Civil Catalana – whichis the main pro-Spanish unity civil society organisation– accused the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, of "cheating everybody" with "this so-called participatory process" scheduled on November 9. In an interview with CNA, Coll foresaw "a great frustration for those Catalans who believed in Artur Mas' promise of being able to vote on November 9". In addition, "for the wide majority of citizens", November 9 "will not represent anything since the majority of Catalans neither wanted to participate in the first consultation vote, nor in this so-called participatory process", he argued. The unionist spokesperson hoped that "before the 9^th […] the rule of law and the principle of democracy must prevail". However, "after the 10^th, [we need] dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue", he concluded.

The National Alliance for Self-Determination, which groups more than 3,000 civil society organisations and public institutions, met on Friday and gave its support to holding the participatory process on Sunday despite the temporary suspension by the Constitutional Court. In addition, the Catalan Government committed itself to continuing to be behind the participatory process, after several people had speculated during the last few days that it would transfer the vote's organisation to civil society organisations. The Catalan Government has guaranteed that its venues (mainly high-schools) will be opened on Sunday and will host ballot boxes. In addition, it will back town halls and volunteers if there is any judicial problem. However, the actual execution of the voting process will be entirely run by volunteers. In addition, the National Alliance and the more than 3,000 organisations that are part of it will be also backing Sunday's participatory process and will share the responsibility.