Catalan MPs vote to hold independence referendum

The Catalonian parliament emphatically passed the regional law to call a vote. Pic: AFP

THE parliament in Spain’s Catalonia region overwhelmingly gave its leader the power to call an independence referendum, a move that the central government in Madrid has denounced as illegal, just a day after Scotland’s own independence poll.

The prospect of an independent Scotland had captivated European independence movements. Besides the Catalans, their ranks include pro-independence Basques in northern Spain; Corsicans who want to break away from France; Italians from several northern regions; and Flemish speakers in Belgium demanding more autonomy, independence or union with the Netherlands.

Ferran Abello, a 38-year-old dog trainer, said if Scotland had chosen independence that would have provided a roadmap for how to break up a nation that would later seek to re-enter the 28-nation European Union.

“There are steps that Scotland would have taken first,” he said in the Catalan capital, Barcelona. “But they had the chance to vote and voted No, so we will have to knock that door down.”

Scotland’s decision could delay successful secessionist efforts for years, said Marc Hooghe, a political science professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium.

“The Scots could have led the way for other regions. They failed. So we will need a new `pioneer’ now, and that new pioneer has much less opportunity to get EU membership in a smooth manner,” he said.

Catalonia’s regional president, Artur Mas, supported a Yes vote in Scotland, but stressed Catalans simply want the same chance as Scots.

• Four Catalonians drive 1,500 miles to support Yes

“What happened in Scotland and the United Kingdom is not a setback for us because what we really want in Catalonia is to have the chance to vote, the same possibility,” Mas said.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has repeatedly said he will block a planned Nov. 9 vote for Catalans in the wealthy northeastern region of 7.5 million people.

Unlike the Scotland vote, the referendum in Catalonia wouldn’t result in secession. It would ask Catalans whether they favor secession. If the answer is Yes, Mas says that would give him a political mandate to negotiate a path toward independence.

But Spain’s constitution doesn’t allow referendums that don’t include all Spaniards, and experts say its Constitutional Court would rule the vote illegal.