“We want a state because we believe in a welfare state and we want to preserve it”, said Raul Romeva, head of Junts pel Si (Together for Yes), the biggest party in the Catalan parliament, and a former green MEP.
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However, the document states that the Spanish constitutional court lacks legitimacy, and that moves by the Spanish state to block Catalonia breaking away from the rest of Spain will not be recognised by the Catalan parliament.
Shouts of “Independence!” rang out in the chamber after the vote, followed by rival chants of “Long live Spain!” from unionist members of parliament.
Catalonia’s parliament on Monday voted to draft a plan to gain independence from Spain by 2017, putting itself on a collision course with the country’s central government.
The court was expected to suspend the motion within hours of receiving the government’s appeal. “My Government will not allow it to that process (a split) will continue”.
“Nobody can give themselves powers without control”, he commented, insisting that the decision taken in Catalonia “has no value”.
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.
Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the opposition Socialist party, said Catalan leaders aimed “to steal Spanish citizenship” from their people. Mr. Azaga adds that Mr. Rajoy must now respond much more definitively and forcefully to the independence movement. But with results of a landslide vote for independence ignored by the government in Madrid, separation remains elusive.
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Catalans favour a referendum on independence, but are evenly divided over whether to secede.
WERTHEIMER: What’s been the comment from the central government in Madrid?
Catalonian politicians are looking to Kosovo as a model for how to move forward in gaining global recognition of their independence, according to a separate El Pais report. I mean, theoretically, Spain could sue those companies for tax evasion.
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Despite being home to only 16 percent of Spain’s population, Catalonia remains its wealthiest region, producing 20 percent of national GDP.
