MADRID, November 9 (RIA Novosti) — Spain’s government considers the polls for independence in Catalonia a “useless” and “anti-democratic exercise”, the EFE news agency reported Sunday.
According to the Spanish government, the behavior of Catalonia's regional president, Artur Mas, “makes the future very complicated”, and that the polls were not valid and did not bear any political advantages for the head of the Catalan government, as reported by the news agency.
Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, will spend the polling day at his official residence, the Moncloa palace, from where he will receive immediate news in regards to the ongoing polls, EFE reported.
On November 9 (07:00 GMT), Spain's northeastern autonomous region Catalonia is holding an unofficial independence "consultation". Residents of Catalonia aged 16 and over are answering two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" and "If so, do you want Catalonia to be an independent state?"
As of 1 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT) more than 1.1 million Catalans had voted.
Spanish government sees the voting as illegal and tried to block it by filing complaints to the Constitutional Court. However, Catalan President Artur Mas has stated that Catalonia will carry out the consultation despite the central government's protests.
