This is quite a tough situation, at one side you have the Spanish constitution beign broken, at the ohter side the 'democracy' has also been broken, 90% voted for independence, altough the majority didn't vote (in no small part because of the interference by the Guardia Civil). It's a bit the will of the (Catalunyan) people vs the Spanish constitution.
Let's face it, the chances of Catalunya gaing recognized independence from Spain were very small anyway as the referendum was illegal and there's no realistic way of gaining that independence otherwise. Even if they would (recognized) gain independence somehow, they would have to (re)join the E.U., something Spain itself would veto, without the E.U., Catalunya won't survive.
Spain could have just sit there; nothing would have happened, yet they violently tried to smash the referendum, something which is E.U. unworthy. Rajoy actually emboldened the seperatists and he might have hurt his own country hard, because I think it is going to be very tough to find a diplomatic solution and let's not forget, Catalunya is still the richest region of Spain.