'This is no time for cowards' says staunch 'independentista' as he's sworn in as Catalan president

The lifelong independence supporter, pictured below, will now lead a broad alliance that wants to see Catalonia split from Spain within 18 months.

Catalan 'independentistes" had been a loggerheads ever since they won a September general election billed as a proxy independence referendum.

Leftist deputies from the CUP faction had refused to work with Mr Mas, whose politics are often seen as fiscally centrist and constitutionally cautious.

Mr Mas stepped down on Saturday as the price for a deal between CUP and his own joint slate Junts pel Sí, or Together for Yes.

The move comes three weeks after an inconclusive Spanish-wide election.

Mr Puigdemont's investiture, at the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, means independence supporters are suddenly united while their unionist opponents struggle to form a single front.

Speaking to his fellow 130 deputies, Mr Puigdemont, 52, pictured below, made it clear he would not be backing down in the face of resolute opposition from Madrid.

He said: "These are not the times for cowards or faint-heartedness. It is now our turn to take more responsibilities that we ever thought before."

Mr Puigdemont made clear he was sticking to the mandate won by Junts pel Sí. He said: "The programme I am proposing is that same as that of Mr Mas."

And he made it clear he wanted to see the dispute between the two Iberian nations - Spain and Catalonia - internationalised.

He said: "We keep doors open to negotiation with Spanish State, EU and the world."

The deal increases pressure on acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his Socialist rivals to bury their differences and form a German-style "grand coalition" in Madrid to thwart Catalan independence.

Mr Mas, who has led his nation since 2010, has not always been a firm supporter of independence.

However, he had moved increasingly towards an SNP-style vision of "independence in Europe" as he failed to win concessions for more autonomy from Madrid.

CUP had opposed Mr Mas's bid for another term due to deep differences over such issues as an independent Catalonia's membership of NATO and the European Union.

Mr Mas said on Saturday he backed Mr Puigdemont as his successor. In parliament, as seen in the picture below, the two men hugged.

Mr Puigdemont has strong links with grassroots independence supporters, including those in local government. Until Sunday he was head of a pro-independence grouping of mayors.

Ara, a daily sympathetic to the independence cause, on Sunday splashed on the historic deal or "Accord". The paper's front page, below, shows Mr Mas shaking Mr Puigdemont's hand, with the sub-header "Mas goes to facilitate formation of government".

Unionists immediately sought to portray Mr Puigdemont - who speaks five languages - as a narrow nationalist.

Madrid's El País newspaper - which is unionist - quoted Mr Puigdemont as saying in a 2013 speech that he would "chase the invaders out of Catalonia".

The paper said the new president, a  journalist who become mayor of Girona, one of the bastions of Catalan language and culture, was a "passionate supporter of independence".

Polling suggests most Catalans don't want full independence.

However, last year's elections showed support for parties favouring independence higher than for those against.

A number of parties declared themselves to be neither for nor against, allowing both unionists and independence supporters to claim victory.

Unionist forces in Madrid - whose intransigence has been blamed for the rise in separatist sentiment - again called for "national" unity on Saturday.

Mr Rajoy, whose right-wing PP party won the most votes but fell well short of a majority last month's Spanish general election, renewed the appeal for a broad-based government in Madrid to avert the Spanish state's fragmentation.

Rajoy

A statement from his caretaker administration said: "The next government of Spain should have a broad parliamentary base that guarantees stability and the capacity of the state to reliably defend the right of all Spaniards to determine their country and confront the separatist challenge."

Mr Rajoy, pictured above, has asked the Socialists to join a coalition that could also include Ciudadanos, an anti-establishment and staunchly anti-independence populist group that was seen as one of the election's big winners.

However, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez has roundly rejected the overtures.

All three parties - PP, Socialists and Ciudadanos - oppose an independence referendum in Catalonia.

Cuidadanos - or Ciutatans in Catalan - has its roots in anti-separatist thinking in Barcelona.

Mr Sanchez wants to form a coalition of 'progressive forces', but a major sticking point is the election promise of leftist newcomer party Podemos, which did well in Catalonia in the Spanish general election, to allow such a referendum.

The pre-election majority PP government refused to allow a referendum in Catalonia in 2014, arguing it would contravene Spain's constitution.

Catalonia's parties had until January 11 to agree a new president or face new elections.

Mr Mas, pictured above after last year's election victory, said on Saturday that would be the worst option for Catalonia.

This was seen by critics as a sign that the pro-independence movement has started to lose steam since its peak at the height of Spain's economic crisis when it drew one million people onto the streets of Barcelona to demand a split from Spain.

Inés Arrimadas of radical anti-independence group Ciutatans repeatedly suggested that it was Mr Mas - and not Mr Puigdemont who was being sworn in. The whole investiture, she said, was simply to avoid another election.

Ms Arrimadas, pictured above, added: "Mas didn't want to go back to the ballot boxes because every time he does he loses support."

Miquel Iceta, the leader of the Catalan Socialists - the only political party in Spain that has expressed any support for a federal solution to the Iberian crisis - called on Mr Puigdemont "work for the 52 per cent of Catalans who did not vote for Junts pel Sí or CUP and who do not agree with the road map".

Mr Iceta was referring to a "road map" that formed the basis of Junts pel Sí's manifesto for independence.

Below: former president Artur Mas shows affection for his replacement, Carles Puigdemont.