Catalan president to sign decree calling for independence ‘consultation’ vote

Catalonia’s president, Artur Mas, has said he will put his signature on a decree calling for a ‘consultation’ on independence from Spain on November 9, despite Madrid deeming any potential referendum unconstitutional.

“I will sign the decree for the consultation in Catalonia, in fact I will call this consultation for November 9 as agreed some months ago with the majority of Catalan political forces,” Mas said.

Mas added that Scotland’s push was a powerful and strong message: “If there is such a conflict elsewhere in the world, you have the right way to try to resolve these differences. So it is not a setback, it is a very positive message for us and should be for the central institutions in Madrid.”

The Spanish central government said previously they would be holding an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Saturday or Sunday should the “consultation” law on the referendum be signed. Madrid deems any vote scheduled to take place on November 9 ‘illegal’.

While it is a vote on whether to secede from Spain, Catalan authorities - the Generalitat – are not terming it a referendum.

Mas has the support of some 79 percent of deputies in the Catalan parliament, Spanish news agency Efe reports.

Catalan daily La Vanguardia previously reported that Mas would not be calling the November 9 referendum immediately after the passage of the bill. Nonetheless, Madrid expressed wishes to have its appeal for the State Council and Constitutional Court ready as soon as possible, reported Spain’s ‘The Local’.

Spain lauded Scotland’s rejection of independence from England on Friday, while Catalonia stated that it was not a setback.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Scots had “chosen the most favorable option for everyone; for themselves, for all of Britain and for the rest of Europe.”

“The Scottish have avoided serious economic, social and political consequences,” he said, according to a Reuters report.