Spain’s Constitutional Court declared the referendum in Catalonia to be unconstitutional, Agence France-Presse says.
Under Spain’s constitution, the separate region of Spain “cannot unilaterally call a referendum on self-determination”, the Constitutional Court writes.
Catalonia’s Parliament voted for putting the declaration on the region’s independence to referendum on January 2014.
Convergence and Union (CiU), the ruling party, headed by President of Catalonia supports the independence of the autonomous community. Artur Mas has previously stated that in case the referendum is boycotted, they will find a way to hold the vote legally. About 80% of the polled Catalans speak up for the referendum. The number of people, who wants independence from Spain provided that Catalonia leaves the EU, is rather small.
The linguistic and cultural differences between the autonomous region and the rest of Spain are the main arguments for making Catalonia an independent country. Besides, it is believed that the community will be better off financially after the separation.
