Spanish court suspends Catalonia independence vote

[Loki]

Spanish court suspends Catalonia independence vote

Madrid (CNN) -- A referendum over Catalonia's future as a part of Spain has been put on hold.

Spain's Constitutional Court on Monday suspended the planned referendum on independence for Spain's Catalonia region set to happen on November 9, a court spokeswoman told CNN.

The court has suspended the referendum as it consider the grounds of a lawsuit issued by Spain's federal government that challenged the planned independence vote as "unconstitutional."

The President of the Catalonia region, Artur Mas, on Saturday had signed a decree setting the date for the vote.

Even before the Constitutional Court suspended the plan, the federal government had made it clear that it any such referendum. A legal and political confrontation was expected.

The next move is in Catalonia's hand -- and whether its leaders decide to go ahead with the vote anyway.

The holding of Scotland's independence referendum earlier this month buoyed other separatist movements around the world, despite Scottish voters opting to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Mas has said that Catalonia wants to speak, wants to be heard and wants to vote.

On September 11, Catalan national day, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona for the third year running demanding a vote on independence be held.

But Madrid argues that Catalonia, which represents one fifth of Spain's economy, already has broad home-rule powers, including its own parliament, police force and control over education and health. And it insists that the Spanish Constitution does not allow any of Spain's 17 regions to unilaterally break away.

Catalonia is a region of northeastern Spain, with Barcelona -- the second-largest city in Spain -- as its capital.

A referendum is expected to ask a two-part question: "Should Catalonia be a state?" And those who vote yes to that can then go to vote on the second question: "Should that state be independent?"

Polls indicate that a majority of Catalans want to have a chance to vote but that less than a majority would vote for independence, given the chance.

[Comte Arnau]

Democracy in Spain = The verdict of 12 biased judges prevails over the agreement of a Parliament elected by people and decides the political future of a whole folk.

Separation of powers = Concept not found yet in the last edition of the Dictionary.

[alfieb]

Have the vote anyway, obviously. Fuck what Madrid says.

[Comte Arnau]

Have the vote anyway, obviously. Fuck what Madrid says.

Well, as expected, our President has obeyed the Court's decision, which prevents official institutional calling for the vote until a final verdict is pronounced -as of now, it is only suspended. That does not mean that the preparations stop, though.

Some of the parties and the ordinary people are definitely going to keep on with it, because the point of no return was already reached by many people two years ago. The Spaniards are going to send riot police here for the next weeks, even if we've got our own Police here. So I expect some hot moments to happen soon.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

What's the point? EU won't accept an independent Catalunya and that means an economic crisis right from the get go. One that will cripple an already troubled economy. Maybe Pujol, that staunch Catalan nationalist, will ease that difficult time with the money he has extorted and stolen from others.

Personally I have no issue with an independent Catalunya. Although if I was Madrid I'd make a free trade contract obligatory. Catalunya can't just take 300 years of economic favoritism by the central government (understandable considering location) without giving the rest of Spain some post-independence economic love.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Democracy in Spain = The verdict of 12 biased judges prevails over the agreement of a Parliament elected by people and decides the political future of a whole folk.

Separation of powers = Concept not found yet in the last edition of the Dictionary.

Spain is not a democracy. It's a Constitutional Monarchy. There is no such thing as democracy in the world. This is basic PoliSci 101.

[Leo Iscariot]

Have the vote anyway, obviously. Fuck what Madrid says.

This.

[Comte Arnau]

What's the point? EU won't accept an independent Catalunya

Conjecture.

and that means an economic crisis right from the get go. One that will cripple an already troubled economy.

Conjecture.

Maybe Pujol, that staunch Catalan nationalist, will ease that difficult time with the money he has extorted and stolen from others.

Staunch nationalist? He belonged to the system.

Personally I have no issue with an independent Catalunya.

Lol. You ooze anti-Catalanism. I don't know the reason but I frankly don't care either.

Although if I was Madrid I'd make a free trade contract obligatory. Catalunya can't just take 300 years of economic favoritism by the central government (understandable considering location) without giving the rest of Spain some post-independence economic love.

Debts on a breakaway are agreed bilaterally. If there is no agreement, there is no debt to pay.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Conjecture.

Obviously you don't keep up with the news.

Conjecture.

No, it's a basic understanding of monetary economics.

Staunch nationalist? He belonged to the system.

Yes, a nationalist and with an independent Catalunya he and his family would have been less likely to have been caught.

Lol. You ooze anti-Catalanism. I don't know the reason but I frankly don't care either.

If you didn't care you wouldn't be responding to me. And I love all Spaniards. If Catalans want to have their own nation, that is fine with me. But don't use dishonesty to push an agenda.



That's from a man with no axe to grind. You can have your independence (if that's what the people want) but don't base it on a myth and try to learn a thing or two about economics.

Debts on a breakaway are agreed bilaterally. If there is no agreement, there is no debt to pay.

Um, what? I'm speaking of something totally different. And yes there is a debt to pay. You're basically saying you don't want to pay but that just means someone else is made poorer. In other words, someone or entity is being fucked over. Never met a Spaniard who understood economics.

[Borna]

Europeans should support it, everyone knows that now is the time for mini-states on the west, since its already done to the east.
I strongly support Catalan people and Basques. Oldest people in Europe muyst have their homeland free of foreing occupation.