Madrid to shut down Catalonian republic vote

Catalonia will hold a referendum on splitting from Spain on October 1, although the central government in Madrid says such a vote is illegal and vowed to shut it down.

“The question will be, ‘Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?’,” said Carles Puigdemont, head of the regional government.

However, under the constitution Madrid has the power to intervene in the Catalonian authority and has said it will force it to drop the vote.

“That referendum will not take place because it is illegal,” central government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told a news conference.