Spanish court blocks Catalan breakaway vote

THE Spanish Constitutional Court last night suspended a referendum law that was approved on Wednesday by the Catalan parliament, blocking the way for a vote on independence from Spain.

The law will be suspended while judges consider whether the vote breaches the country’s constitution.

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, promised to “stop at nothing” to prevent Catalonia’s independence referendum, as he asked Spain’s top court to block the vote and his attorney general prepared to prosecute Catalan leaders.

In a blistering address yesterday, Mr Rajoy accused Catalonia’s parliament of an “intolerable act of disobedience” in passing its referendum law, insisting it violated the Spanish constitution.

“The consultation is not going to happen in any case,” he said. “We are defending national sovereignty, the principle of legality and the institutions. We are defending the rights of all citizens, above all of the Catalans.”

The warning came after Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, officially called the independence referendum for October 1, an act he declared to be “for liberty and democracy”. After a day of tense debate, the Catalan parliament passed the referendum law late on Wednesday, despite furious complaints from opponents in the chamber that it was engaged in a criminal act.

A major legal fight now looms. José Manuel Maza, the attorney general, said he was opening criminal complaints against the entire Catalan government and the members of the parliamentary leadership who had enabled Wednesday’s vote. But the Catalan government insists it will press ahead, and yesterday morning officially launched the referendum campaign with a new website and advert.

Jordi Turull, a spokesman, said Madrid’s moves changed nothing. “Calling a referendum is not a crime,” he said, insisting Catalonia would defend democratic freedoms in the face of “this state of siege”.

The Catalan government has also begun taking applications for volunteers to work on the vote, who will have to brave the threat of prosecution from the Spanish authorities. Local councils have been given 48 hours to confirm whether they will open their facilities for the poll.

A key question is whether Ada Colau, the mayor of Barcelona, will cooperate. She said on Twitter yesterday that she was considering the request, and was willing to facilitate democratic participation “without putting the [local] institution and officials at risk”.

The latest poll this week indicates that just over 50 per cent of Catalans support secession from Spain.

‘We are defending national sovereignty, the principle of law and the rights of all citizens, above all of the Catalans’