MADRID �� Demonstrators dressed in white gathered outside city halls in Barcelona, Madrid and across Spain Saturday to demand that opposing sides in the country's constitutional crisis move back from the brink.
"Let's talk," in Spanish and Catalan, said the banners and flags at Sant Jaume square in Barcelona and around Madrid's Cibeles Fountain.
"It's time to talk and find a way out _ I don't need to carry a flag. This isn't a political movement, it's a citizen movement," Nuria Lliteras, a teacher, said at the Barcelona rally.
Time may be running out. Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont is negotiating the text of a declaration of independence with his group's more radical partner, El Mundo newspaper reported. He's scheduled to brief the regional parliament Tuesday, the first step toward a declaration.
As Spain and Catalonia planned their next moves before next week's likely showdown, the focus was on the financial toll of secession talk. The board of CaixaBank, the biggest symbol of the Catalonia's wealth and economic clout, decided Friday to move its legal base.
"It's very sad what we are seeing, the departure of extremely important companies from Catalonia," Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said at a news conference in Madrid Friday. "This isn't the fault of the companies. It's clearly the fault of irresponsible policy which at the end of the day generates uncertainty and anxiety."
Puigdemont risks economic damage and being cast adrift by Europe if he pushes ahead with secession plans based on a referendum that breached Spain's constitution.
If Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his minority government have to step in to reassert control, they will be loath to risk a repeat of scenes a week ago Sunday of police violence against peaceful voters that drew international condemnation and inflamed the separatists.
On Friday, Rajoy's proxies sought to ease the anger over that crackdown. "We are profoundly sorry because this was not our wish. We didn't want a single person getting hurt," Enric Millo, the central government's chief representative in Catalonia, said on Bloomberg Television.
Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo issued a collective apology at the same time. "If there were incidents _ and there were _ and people were affected, obviously we are all sorry," he said.
A new law approved by Spain's Cabinet Friday eased the way for companies to change domiciles, sending a clear message to Catalonian leaders that the government will use its administrative muscle to encourage such moves.
Banco Sabadell last week said last week that it will move its headquarters to the Spanish city of Alicante, while CaixaBank's board decided on Valencia.
Gas Natural also Friday announced it would move its registered office to Madrid from Barcelona, citing political concerns.
Puigdemont had sought to evaluate the result of the independence vote at a session of the regional parliament Monday until it was suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court. He's now seeking to address lawmakers Tuesday.
The regional government said the bid to break away won the support of 90 percent of 2.3 million voters. Many stayed away or couldn't vote, with turnout at 42 percent.
"There will be some formula for the Catalan Parliament to convene and hold its meeting as planned," Jordi Sanchez, who heads the most powerful group among the separatists, known as the Catalan National Assembly, said in an interview in Barcelona. "There will be a plenary session." Sanchez is being investigated by the National Court in Madrid for possible sedition.
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(Katie Linsell, Todd White, Charles Penty, Esteban Duarte and Angeline Benoit contributed to this report.)
