Brussels: The deposed leader of CataloniaCarles Puigdemont said yesterday that there could be solutions to Spain's political crisis other than independence for his region, insisting he was still open to "agreement" with Madrid, reports AFP.

"I've always been willing to accept the new reality of a different relationship with Spain," Puigdemont said in Brussels, where he travelled to after his government declared independence from Spain last month.

"It's still possible. I've been pro-independence all my life, working for 30 years to secure a different way of integrating Catalonia within Spain. I'm still for an agreement," the former leader told Belgium's Le Soir newspaper.

Spain was plunged into its worst political crisis in decades when Catalan lawmakers voted to split from Madrid following a banned referendum in the wealthy northeastern region on October 1.