Monday’s data and price action comes in the wake of unrest in Catalonia, Spain, brought about by the Northern province’s attempt to hold a referendum on independence.

September’s German manufacturing PMI held steady at 60.6, its highest level since mid-2011 before the Eurozone debt crisis began to take its toll, while the French PMI was revised up 10 basis points to 56.1.

“Factory production levels rose sharply again in September on the back of sustained strong growth in order books, and businesses reacted to the corresponding squeeze on capacity by upping the rate of job creation,” says Phil Smith, an economist at IHS Markit, the survey compiler.

Both French and German data helped support the broader Eurozone composite PMI which, although revised down a touch, remained close to its highest level since early 2011.

Of note, activity in crisis hit Greece also continued to expand, with the 52.8 reading of the index their representing a 111 month high and suggesting recovery could be taking hold.

French and German manufacturing PMIs are seen coming in stable for the month of September when the latest readings of Europe’s industrial pulse are released later in the Monday session.

The Euro was stable after the releases, with noteworthy losses confined to the Euro-to-Dollar pair, which traded down 0.57% to 1.1741. The Pound-to-Euro rate was up a fraction, at 1.1350, representing a gain of 0.11%.

Monday’s data comes in the wake of unrest in Catalonia, Spain, brought about by the Northern province’s attempt to hold a referendum on independence.

???? Some of the images of the Spanish police charges today in Catalonia in 30 seconds #CatalanReferendum pic.twitter.com/QydOFdQTFD

— Catalan News (@catalannews) October 1, 2017The vote was described as unconstitutional by Spain’s top court, and prohibited, although separatists went ahead with the referendum anyhow.

Madrid sought to prevent the vote by force, which lead to scenes of violence and unrest throughout the weekend, although some 70% of polling stations still managed to operate effectively.

"The violence characterising Sunday’s Catalan referendum overshadows the actual outcome of the vote and may actually strengthen the Catalan quest for independence. Markets have not cared much so far, but that is about to change," says Jan von Gerich at Nordea Markets. "For the ones not having Catalonia on their list of political risks, now is high time to add it."

Catalan representatives said Monday that more than 2 million ballots were cast, meaning more than 40% of voters cast a ballot despite authorities having confiscated millions of ballot papers and wide array of voting equipment such as ballot boxes.

More than 90% of those voting cast ballots in favour of secession from Spain, leading Catalan representatives to pledge a unilateral declaration of secession from Spain later in the week.

Catalonia to declare independence following "yes" victory in #CatalanReferendum, president says. Learn more here ➡️https://t.co/ihMh6LvZMN.

— Catalan News (@catalannews) October 1, 2017Unionists were widely expected to boycott the referendum. Monday, government representatives in Madrid urged all party talks over a future settlement for Catalonia and called for the province to abandon the push toward independence.

???? Resultats del Referèndum de #1OCT pic.twitter.com/2jGFL1xLz1

— Govern. Generalitat (@govern) October 1, 2017