Catalunya independence referendum announced for October 1

A REFERENDUM on Catalunya's independence is likely to be held on October 1, according to an announcement by regional president Carles Puigdemont.

Voters will be asked, “Do you want Catalunya to be an independent State in the form of a republic?” and will be given 'yes' and 'no' tick-boxes.

Ballots will be printed in Spanish, catalán and aranés, the local language of the Aran Valley in the land-locked province of Lleida.

“Now is the time for the catalán people to decide their future and demonstrate that democracy unites us above any of the legitimate and healthy discrepancies that characterise any community-spirited and mature society which is capable of deciding for itself and respecting all the possible answers to the question formulated,” Puigdemont said.

Concerning the illegality of the referendum – which goes against Spain's Constitution, drawn up at the end of Franco's dictatorship and brought into effect in 1978 – Puigdemont says the regional government of Catalunya has 'repeatedly attempted to pursue an agreement with the State of Spain', but that Catalunya is 'coming to the end of its legislature without having received a positive response'.

Puigdemont says Spain's legal framework 'does not impede' an agreed referendum and that the only problem is Mariano Rajoy's government's 'I don't want'.

“With an 'I don't', you can't go to the altar,” Puigdemont adds.

He will 'keep the door open' to negotiate with the Spanish government until the last minute before the referendum, but will not hold up the process waiting for Rajoy's cabinet to agree to open discussions.

Puigdemont explains that the referendum was originally going to be in the last weekend of September – voting in Spain always happens on a Sunday, to guarantee workers can cast their ballots – but that it would have clashed with Barcelona's Verge de la Mercè ('Virgin of Mercy') patron saint festival, potentially reducing turnout.

Aside from the socialists and the PP – who are dead against a referendum – the only party which did not attend the announcement meeting was En Comú Podem, the regional faction of Podemos, which is in favour of the poll being held but does not agree with the unilateral nature of it.

And Puigdemont is playing with fire, since Spain's government has no qualms about filing legal, even criminal action against Catalunya politicians who are active in promoting the referendum, having persistently refused to discuss the issue.