The paradox has few parallels in history. The Prime Minister of Catalonia has pulled the sensitive region from the brink less than a fortnight after the October 1 referendum affirming independence. In a sense, Carles Puigdemont has baffled both the government in Madrid and the spirited jingoists. It is pretty obvious that he has had second thoughts on the declaration of independence.

Notably, he has shed his earlier belligerence and has advanced a last-minute appeal for negotiations. Having said that, he has not given up the pursuit of independence either, embedded as it is in an iniquitous system of taxation. “Thanks to the results of the referendum, Catalonia has earned the right to be an independent state,” Mr Puigdemont told the region’s parliament in Barcelona. “If everybody acts responsibly, this conflict can be resolved calmly. It won’t be us that prevents that from happening. We are reaching out in the hope of dialogue.”

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He has clothed his surprise announcement with a fervent appeal to the “citizens of Catalonia to continue to express themselves in a civilized, peaceful way, the parties to contribute with their words to lessen the tension, and the Spanish government to renounce its repressive tactics.” There is little doubt that he has addressed a crosssection of stake-holders.

For all that, Madrid isn’t impressed if the immediate response of the Spanish government is any indication. The regime of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has rejected what it calls a ‘tacit’ declaration of independence, and there is no indication that the official establishment is agreeable to negotiations.

On the contrary, Spain has strengthened its defences in the aftermath of Puigdemont’s back-tracking. Security has been tightened at airports in Catalonia and no less crucially, special forces are said to be ready to arrest the Catalan President. The imbroglio might just intensify. The region has been plunged into fresh uncertainty, is the grim prognosis of Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.

Far from a collective sigh of relief over the fact that Spain may yet remain united, Puigdemont’s eleventh-hour retreat has caused a flutter in the political roost. Markedly, it hasn’t inspired confidence within the government and there is considerable cynicism on both sides of the fence.

Indeed, his failure to declare formal independence has disappointed his hard-left CUP allies, whose support is vital for maintaining his narrow pro-nationalist majority in Parliament. The allies were looking forward to an immediate break from Spain.

Small wonder that the regional Prime Minister’s speech was debunked by the CUP as an “unacceptable act of traitorship.” The plot thickens as Puigdemont has antagonised the government of Spain and the political class generally.

On closer reflection, it could be argued that he has played on the backfoot as Spain’s constitutional court had last week stopped the Catalan government from making a unilateral declaration of independence.