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Catalonia parliament votes for Oct. 1 referendum on split from Spain

By Inmaculada Sanz and Sonya Dowsett

 

Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont (C, front row) attends a session of the Catalonian regional Parliament in Barcelona, Spain, September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea

 

MADRID (Reuters) - Catalonia's parliament voted on Wednesday to hold an independence referendum on Oct. 1, setting up a clash with the Spanish government that has vowed to stop what it says would be an illegal vote.

 

After 12 hours of often chaotic debate in the Barcelona parliament, a majority voted for the referendum and the legal framework to set up a new state, under which the assembly would declare independence within 48 hours of a "yes" vote.

 

Lawmakers who opposed independence abandoned the chamber before the vote, with some leaving Catalan flags in their empty seats. The winners, led by regional head Carles Puigdemont, sang the Catalan national anthem once the votes were counted.

 

"Committed to freedom and democracy! We push on!" Catalonia's deputy governor, Oriol Junqueras, tweeted after the vote.

 

Polls in the northeastern region show support for self-rule waning as Spain's economy improves. But the majority of Catalans do want the opportunity to vote on whether to split from Spain.

 

The government has asked the Spanish constitutional court to declare the referendum law void as soon as it is approved by the regional parliament. The Spanish constitution states that the country is indivisible.

 

"What is happening in the Catalan parliament is embarrassing, it's shameful," Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters.

 

The details of the referendum, which would pose the question "Do you want Catalonia to be an independent republic?" to all Spanish citizens living in Catalonia, were revealed amid a tense atmosphere in the 135-seat regional parliament.

 

"You will not split up Spain, but you are breaking up Catalonia," Alejandro Fernandez of the ruling People's Party (PP) told pro-independence lawmakers. "You're putting social harmony at risk."

 

The vote comes about three weeks after Barcelona and a nearby town were struck by Islamist attacks that killed 16 people and caused the Catalan and Spanish governments to present a brief united front.

 

Divisions reappeared as both sides squabbled over whether either could have prevented the attacks, and rallies against terrorism became politicised. Crowds in Barcelona booed Spain's King Felipe when he visited for one march.

 

There will be no minimum turnout requirement to make the result of the referendum binding, Puigdemont said in a recent briefing. Ballot boxes, voting papers and an electoral census are at the ready, he said.

 

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a news conference on Monday the government would come down with all the force of the law to ensure no referendum would go ahead.

 

Courts have already suspended from office and levelled millions of euros in fines at Catalan politicians who organised a non-binding referendum in 2014, which returned a "yes" vote on a low turnout. ($1 = 0.8394 euros)

 

(Additional reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Robin Pomeroy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-07

[Rancid]

At least the Europeans are consistent. First they said Crimea can't split from Ukraine despite the largely Russian population voting over 90% to secede, and they did anyway. Now with Catalonia wanting to split from Spain expect the outrage, be interesting to see how this goes, if voted yes will the troops be sent in? Then of course there is Gibraltar...

 

 

[Samui Bodoh]

7 minutes ago, Rancid said:

At least the Europeans are consistent. First they said Crimea can't split from Ukraine despite the largely Russian population voting over 90% to secede, and they did anyway. Now with Catalonia wanting to split from Spain expect the outrage, be interesting to see how this goes, if voted yes will the troops be sent in? Then of course there is Gibraltar...

 

 

 

You might find that there is a wee bit of dispute over "the largely Russian population voting over 90% to secede" in Crimea.

 

That pesky Russian army invasion force led a few people to wonder if it was a fair and legitimate referendum...

 

 

[FreddieRoyle]

 The Catalonians are best advised to cancel this referendum. Even if the "leave" camp wins, the liberal elite with twist and turn and whine and moan and vilify anyone that didn't agree with their progressive globalist stance. No, just do what the liberal elite want and save yourselves the expense and stress. It has become abundantly clear the end game is to join north Africa with Europe to form a "superstate", the so called Eurabia ( Houellebecq has well documented this devious plan.) Catalonia leaving this mishmash of countries is not part of that plan, therefore it ain't happening.

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

You might find that there is a wee bit of dispute over "the largely Russian population voting over 90% to secede" in Crimea.

 

That pesky Russian army invasion force led a few people to wonder if it was a fair and legitimate referendum...

 

 

 

You might find that the Crimea wasn't part of the Ukraine until the 1950's when the then Soviet Leader and Ukrainian Kruschev decided it should be.

 

He never bothered with a vote of course.

[Baerboxer]

 

How can it be legal for a regional council/government  of a country to defy the elected national government of that country and decide to do something illegal?

 

 

[Kiwiken]

9 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

How can it be legal for a regional council/government  of a country to defy the elected national government of that country and decide to do something illegal?

 

 

Did not some people do that in about 1776 trying to remember the Place

[ilostmypassword]

12 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

 The Catalonians are best advised to cancel this referendum. Even if the "leave" camp wins, the liberal elite with twist and turn and whine and moan and vilify anyone that didn't agree with their progressive globalist stance. No, just do what the liberal elite want and save yourselves the expense and stress. It has become abundantly clear the end game is to join north Africa with Europe to form a "superstate", the so called Eurabia ( Houellebecq has well documented this devious plan.) Catalonia leaving this mishmash of countries is not part of that plan, therefore it ain't happening.

You seem confused. The Catalans are voting about seceding from Spain not about seceding from the European Union. In fact, the situation is exactly the opposite of how you conceive it. it's the Catalans who want to stay in the EU. It's the EU who says it won't recognize a vote that it considers illegal and will not accept the Catalan state as a member.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/822446/european-union-catalonia-independence-spain-artur-mas-jean-claude-juncker

 

[Grouse]

Devolution would be appropriate. They speak Catalan not Spanish and in someways they are closer to Southern France than Madrid. 

 

Shades of the second republic pre Franco. I hope cool heads prevail ....

[Khun Han]

6 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

You seem confused. The Catalans are voting about seceding from Spain not about seceding from the European Union. In fact, the situation is exactly the opposite of how you conceive it. it's the Catalans who want to stay in the EU. It's the EU who says it won't recognize a vote that it considers illegal and will not accept the Catalan state as a member.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/822446/european-union-catalonia-independence-spain-artur-mas-jean-claude-juncker

 

 

Crikey, you do realise you just referenced the Express, don't you?

 

Anyway, this would never be allowed to happen. Spain's tourism-dependant economy is already a basket case. It would go belly up if it lost Catalonia and it's costas.