The Barcelona-based chamber, where the secessionist parties hold a majority, will vote on the motion later on Monday. The resolution is backed by Catalan Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) parties. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had earlier threatened legal action if MPs voted in favour of initiating the independence process.
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The Spanish constitution does not allow any region to break away, however, and Rajoy’s center-right government, which faces a challenging election on December 20, has said it will immediately seek to block the resolution in courts.
The proposal to commence a “democratic disconnection” passed by a vote of 72 to 63, after a two-hour debate.
“There is a growing cry for Catalonia to not merely be a country, but to be a state with everything that means”.
The resolution would be suspended if the court accepted the government’s appeal until judges rule on it. Once a new constitution is accepted, Catalonia will declare its independence.
As well as warnings from the European Union that an independent Catalonia would have to ask to be admitted to the bloc, separatist forces also face an internal dispute that could slow or even derail the independence push.
Catalonia has yet to fully form a government after the September election, amid wrangling within the pro-independence camp on who will act as premier in the region.
“I was born in Catalonia and I want to keep living here”, said Xavier Garcia Albiol of the ruling PP party.
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Catalans favour a referendum on independence, but are evenly divided over whether to secede.
The declaration said it considered that judicial decisions “in particular those of the Constitutional Court” were not legitimate, setting the region and Madrid on a collision course. According to supporters of Catalonia’s secession from Spain, the process should take approximately 18 months.
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Many Catalans believe their economy would be more prosperous on its own, complaining that a high portion of their taxes go to the central government in Madrid.
