Independent Catalonia? 'It's Very Unlikely That the Vote on It Will Take Place'

A poll published by El Pais newspaper last week revealed that a possible Catalan independence could adversely impact Spain's economy.

According to the survey held among the country's business leaders, about 74 percent of respondents believe that Catalonia's secession could represent a threat to the Spanish economy.

Forty-three percent of Catalan-based business leaders support this point of view as well. At the same time, the poll showed that confidence in Spain's stable economic growth remains high.

Eighty percent of the respondents said that the economy had advanced in the first half of the year.

Catalonia is planning to hold a self-determination vote aimed at granting independence to the region on October 1. Madrid vehemently opposes the Catalan intentions viewing them as illegal.

"[In terms of economic development], Catalonia is very self-sufficient because it has quite a big positive net trade balance with the rest of the world," Miquel Puig, a managing director at the Consortium of University Services of Catalonia, told Sputnik.

According to him, all the negative forecasts pertaining to Catalan economy and its sectors are based on the assumption that "Catalonia would be to some degree isolated from the rest of the world after independence."

"What is clear is that pro-independence feelings have grown in the last 10 years," he said, citing, in particular, the ongoing standoff between the governments of Catalonia and Spain.

When asked to give his thoughts about the possibility of holding the October 1 independence referendum, Puig remained skeptical about the matter.

"I think that it's very unlikely that the vote [on Catalonia' independence] will take place," he pointed out, specifically referring to the Spanish government's unwillingness to give the green light to the move.

In July, the president of Spain's autonomous region of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont Casamajo, said that Catalonia would hold a unilateral referendum on independence on October 1, 2017, if it does not reach an agreement with the central government to carry out a consultation in an agreed manner.

In March, Catalonia approved a draft budget that included an allocation of 5.8 million euros ($6.2 million) toward preparations for the independence referendum this year. The Spanish government decided to challenge the budget and launched a probe into the actions of the Generalitat, Catalonia's government.

On November 9, 2014, about 80 percent of the Catalans who took part in a non-binding referendum on the region's status as part of Spain voted in favor of Catalonia becoming an independent state. Madrid has declared the referendum unconstitutional.