Catalonia’s parliament votes to allow ‘unconstitutional’ independence vote, triggering political crisis in Spain
The looming showdown was set up on Wednesday after lawmakers approved the referendum with 72 votes in favour and 11 abstentions after 12 hours of often stormy debate in the regional assembly
The Spanish government is to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday after Catalonia’s regional authority voted to push ahead with an independence referendum on October 1, sparking the country’s deepest political crisis in 40 years.
After gathering his cabinet to formally ask Spain’s Constitutional Court to once again rule against the vote, conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will hold talks with the head of the main opposition Socialist Party, Pedro Sanchez, a government spokesman said.
The Catalan parliament will also meet again on Thursday to examine a “transition law” laying out how the region would function if most of its 7.5 million inhabitants vote in favour of seceding from Spain.
Catalonia’s president Carles Puigdemont, a lifelong proponent on independence, is hoping to mobilise supporters in a show of legitimacy in the face of Madrid’s threats to halt the vote by any means possible.
Both sides are now racing against the clock, after Catalan lawmakers approved the vote in a marathon session on Wednesday despite a February ruling by the Constitutional Court declaring it would be unconstitutional.
The looming showdown was set up on Wednesday after lawmakers approved the referendum with 72 votes in favour and 11 abstentions after 12 hours of often stormy debate in the regional assembly.