Mass demonstration surrounds Catalunya regional Parliament

Two were arrested and three injured, although not seriously, and 24 regional police officers, or Mossos d'Esquadra, suffered minor wounds.

Carles Puigdemont, the only candidate for president, remains in exile in Belgium and cannot enter Spain without being arrested, but the country's Constitutional Court will not allow him to be sworn in 'from a distance'.

Catalunya's Parliamentary chair Roger Torrent has had to put off the ceremony, whilst Puigdemont himself has appealed the Constitutional Court verdict, saying that as he has been democratically elected, he does not legally need permission from a judge or any other authority to be sworn in.

But a national arrest warrant remains over him and four of his ministers – three of whom have given up their seats to other members of their parties to lend strength to Puigdemont's being voted in – meaning that the five are only free from custody if they stay out of the country.

Organised by the Catalunya National Assembly (ANC), whose leader Jordi Sànchez is in prison for his role in the disputed independence referendum, and the Committee for the Defence of the Republic, the protest is said to have become tumultuous very quickly, with the gates to the Parliamentary complex – the Ciutadella Park - burst open and the security cordon broken through.

Dozens of demonstrators remained in tents inside the park for some time afterwards, but finally decided to pack up and leave at around 22.30 last night (Tuesday).

Pro-independence parties Junts per Catalunya ('Together for Catalunya', or JxCat) and the CUP are furious about the swearing-in ceremony having been postponed, since it was due to be held yesterday but the legal impasse surrounding Puigdemont meant it could not go ahead.

Spain's government has maintained Puigdemont will be arrested if he tries to enter the country, and one minister even said they would make sure he did not do so, 'even inside a suitcase'.