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Catalan referendum receives vote of approval in local parliament

By John Smith • Published: 07 Sep 2017 • 8:00

AFTER hours of bitter wrangling and disagreement about the legality of any vote, the Catalan referendum bill was approved last night.

Points of law were reportedly ignored and when the vote was called, deputies representing the Popular Party, PSOE and Ciudadanos walked from the chamber leaving the pro-referendum deputies and Podemos to vote.

With the Podemos party abstaining, the vote was carried by 72 to nil and within minutes Catalan First Minister Carles Puigdemont signed the document passing the Referendum Bill into law and this was supported by the local council of ministers and published in the official Catalan gazette.

The referendum on the matter of secession from Spain is now due to be held on October 1 despite the fact that the government of Mariano Rajoy protests that it is illegal.

In what is expected to be a show of solidarity, Prime Minister Rajoy is due to meet with the leaders of the PSOE (Pedro Sánchez) and Ciudadanos (Albert Rivera) parties today to discuss a response to the news of the Catalan vote.

Written by

John Smith

Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

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