Catalonia votes to start secession plan
Catalonia’s regional parliament has approved a plan to begin a legal and financial separation from the rest of Spain by 2017.
But those who crafted the declaration had anticipated this, and the resolution states that the secession process will not be subject to any decision made by Spanish institutions, including the court.
“The content of the resolution will be applied regardless of what the Constitutional Court says”. Mas said the elections served as a de facto referendum of whether or not Catalans wanted to remain part of Spain.
“The government will not allow this to continue”, the Spanish leader told reporters while on a holiday trip to the mountain hamlet of Bejar, west of Madrid.
In a nationally televised address, Rajoy, meanwhile, said his government was already working towards again appealing the legislation to the high court, the Guardian reported.
The declaration said it considered that judicial decisions, “in particular those of the Constitutional Court”, were not legitimate, raising the prospect that regional politicians could disobey its rulings. The anti-capitalist party CUP, which backed the separatist motion, opposes Mas’s candidacy because of his support for business and the reports of corruption within his party. The small, far-left separatist CUP party also backs secession.
The parliament has until January 9 to form a government or new elections must be called.
Shouts of “Independence!” rang out in the chamber after the vote, followed by rival chants of “Long live Spain!” from unionist members of parliament.
The Catalan pro-independence parties say the courts will not be able to stop the secession process, with Together for Yes pledging that “the content of the resolution will be applied regardless of what the constitutional court says”.
Catalonia is home to 7.5 million people and accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economic output. Following the country’s economic crisis, calls for independence have increased.
Catalonia was once it’s own independent state on the Iberian Peninsula, but over time, it has become more and more dependent on other areas of the region.
Ultimately, though, Gil Andres said the issue could play into Rajoy’s hands ahead of December general elections.
Catalonia is a mountainous region in northeastern Spain, with the French border to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its capital and largest city, Barcelona, is about 385 miles east of Madrid.