BARCELONA, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – Catalonia's president has vowed that he will not give up on holding an independence referendum despite the Spanish parliament recently voting against the possibility.
“They are afraid that the Catalan people will vote. Some would like to present this as the end of the matter but, as President of Catalonia, I say to them that it is not the end,” Catalonia President Artur Mas said.
“Catalan institutions will search through the legal frameworks to find a way to continue with this consultation,” Mas said after the votes were counted.
Catalonian lawmaker Joan Herrera argued that the Spanish parliament's vote would only "increase the difference" between Catalonia and Spain, and that the region's residents were being denied their right to self-determination.
On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament held a seven-hour debate, ultimately rejecting Catalonia’s bid to hold an independence referendum, with 299 lawmakers voting against, 47 in favor and one abstention.
The ruling Popular Party, the opposition Socialists and the centrist Union for Progress and Democracy blocked the petition, with only the Catalan and Basque parties voting in favor.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy earlier said that if Catalonia were to secede from Spain it would be "an economic disaster" for both. Yet the Catalonia region in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula believes it will be financially better off without Spain.
Catalonia accounts for about a fifth of Spain's 1.1 trillion euro ($1.5 trillion) GDP.
Catalan President Artur Mas has promised the region will hold the vote in November anyway, even though Spanish courts have ruled it illegal. “If they say no, they will say no to a law. But they can't stop the will of the people of Catalonia,” Mas told reporters prior to the vote.
According to a recent poll conducted by Catalonia’s Center of Opinion Studies, about half of Catalonia’s population of 7.5 million would vote for independence.
