Catalonia to call proxy vote on independence from Spain
Catalonia is preparing to call an early regional election that could serve as a precursor for the region’s independence from Spain.
The Catalan president, Artur Mas, was to sign an official decree on Monday, setting September 27 as the date for the vote.
Mas has promised the voters that if the pro-independence parties win the election, the region will gain independence from Spain within 18 months.
The Catalan vice president, Neus Munte, told media on Monday that the pro-secession camp expected to win "a sufficient and solid" majority in favor of independence.
The Catalan government has already set up the necessary state institutions to run the country if an alliance of pro-independence parties win the vote.
"We are ready," Mas has repeatedly pointed out in public appearances.
Secession movement
Catalonia's secession efforts, aiming to gain independence from Spain, have raised tensions with the central government in Madrid which opposes the region's independence.
"There will be no independence for Catalonia," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday.
Many Catalans believe that the resource-rich region is paying too much in taxes to the central government in Madrid.
During a visit to Catalonia last month, Spain's monarch King Felipe VI said, “Law is the source of legitimacy and an unavoidable requirement for living together democratically in peace and freedom."
Under Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, the central government has the right to supersede the authority of any of its regional governments.
Catalonia, which includes the cities of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona, accounts for a fifth of Spain’s output.
The recent move comes just less than a year after the Catalan regional government staged a symbolic pro-independence referendum on November 9, despite government and court efforts trying to stop the vote.
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