Catalan lawmakers are signing a document they are calling a declaration of independence from Spain, but are delaying its implementation.

Regional president Carles Puigdemont was the first to sign the document titled "Declaration of the Representatives of Catalonia." After him, dozens of other lawmakers signed it.

The signing ceremony came a few hours after Puigdemont addressed the regional parliament, saying Catalans had earned the right to independence from Spain after a referendum on Oct. 1. But he called for dialogue with Spain's government, which has condemned the referendum as illegal and unconstitutional.

An official says that the Spanish government will hold an emergency Cabinet meeting on Wednesday after Catalan lawmakers signed the document.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria made the announcement in Madrid hours after a speech by Puigdemont at the regional parliament in Barcelona.

But Saenz de Santamaria signalled that Spain's government was in no mood to talk, saying that the Catalan leader "doesn't know where he is, where he is going and with whom he wants to go."

The Spanish Cabinet meeting will be held Wednesday at 9 a.m. and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is due to address parliament in the afternoon.