The president of the government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, has until Tuesday (10 October) at 6PM, when he will address the regional parliament, to decide whether Catalonia will unilaterally declare independence.
So far, Puigdemont has said he will speak in a plenary session to discuss the "current political situation" in the wake of the 1 October independence referendum that was declared illegal by the Spanish authorities.
CUP, a radical left and pro-separatist party that helps to secure the Catalan government's absolute majority in the regional parliament, wants to take the jump.
"It is now time for the next step - declare independence," said CUP parliamentarian Carles Riera in a press conference on Friday
But some, even within the government, are worried that the consequences of declaring independence might be too big and that a better solution would be to mediate with Madrid.
"The alternative to a dialogue and an agreement - which is what we in Catalonia have been looking for for some time - is conflict and its economic consequences for Catalonia and the whole of Spain, which we have started to notice," said Catalan minister for business and knowledge, Santi Vila.
"Although a possible declaration of independence by the parliament would be humanly and politically well understood, based on the cautionary warnings received from the world community, the trade unions, and the companies, it is important to reflect on its benefits and consequences," Vila said in an open letter in the ARA newspaper.
"The priority must be to give dialogue a last chance and to commit to it for a while before any of the two sides take new unilateral decisions," he added.
Artur Mas, Puigdemont's predecessor as Catalan leader and Vila's political associate in the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDECat), also called for caution on Friday.
"We have won the right to be an independent country. To be independent we need a few things we still do not have," he told the Financial Times.
Mas said that Catalonia still needed control of infrastructure and borders and that people paid tax to a Catalan tax authority. He noted that "until this is not operational, independence is not real."
"In this moment that we have arrived at the definitive step it is clear that there is a certain vertigo among the more moderate supporters" of independence, Oriol Bartomeus, a political science professor at Barcelona's Autonomous University, told EUobserver.
"In general people are very worried. Everywhere you hear people talking about the independence process," Xavier Arbòs, a professor in constitutional law at the University of Barcelona, noted.
He told this website that he would not be surprised if not all pro-independence lawmakers would vote in favour of a unilateral declaration of independence on Tuesday.
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is under pressure from former PM Jose Maria Aznar, a colleague in the conservative Popular Party, to increase use of force against Catalonia or to call for elections, while Ciudadanos, centrist party, is calling on Rajoy to use article 155 of the Spanish constitution.
The article, which has never been invoked before, allows for direct rule from Madrid in Spain's autonomous regions in case a region "acts in a manner that gravely attacked the general interest of Spain".
In Catalonia there has been an increased call for dialogue to avoid a final clash between Barcelona and Madrid. A lawyers' association supported by several institutions and organisations met with Puigdemont and other government officials on Friday afternoon. However, an expected press conference following the event never took place.
Meanwhile, the Catalan authorities are facing economic difficulties.
On Friday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that "prolonged tensions and uncertainties regarding Catalonia could weigh on confidence and investment decisions."
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