Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, is swinging into action to stop a referendum organised by the wannabe independent region of Catalonia.
Rojoy is demanding that Spain’s constitutional court looks at revoking a law passed on Wednesday by the Catalan parliament that triggers an October 1st vote for independence from Spain, which Rajoy claims is unconstitutional.
In 2014, Spain’s courts suspended Catalan politicians and levied millions of euros in fines after a non-binding referendum was organised but the question has never gone away and the area's locals and politicians want the right at least to vote on the matter.
Madrid is delighted that Spain’s State prosecution service is to present criminal charges against members of the Catalan parliament for allowing Wednesday’s vote to be held.
After a robust, 12-hour debate in the regional capital Barcelona, a majority of Catalan politicians voted for the October referendum and have even developed a workable legal framework to set up a new state within Spain.
"We have the full force of the state against us," the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, told a meeting of party officials in Barcelona. "Faced with judicial proceedings and threats... the regional government is more determined than ever" to hold the plebiscite as planned on October 1, he said
Spanish citizens living in Catalonia may at last be able to answer the single question, “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent republic?”
There will be no minimum turnout requirement and ballot boxes and voting papers all are there and ready for use.
The government in Madrid in incandescent and has vowed to stop what it sees as an illegal vote as the Spanish constitution states the country is indivisible.
Polls covering the northeastern region have shown support for self-rule and the majority of Catalans want the opportunity to vote on a divorce from Spain.
Pro-breakaway politicians in the Algarve will be watching the result with more than ususal interest.
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