MADRID (Sputnik) — Spokesman of the Spanish Council of Ministers Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Friday that the referendum on the Catalan independence would not be held on October 1.
"There will be no referendum on October 1," Mendez de Vigo said at a press conference after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The spokesman stressed that the referendum had been prepared by the Catalan government "on illegitimate grounds."
On September 6, Catalonia’s Parliament passed a bill enabling an independence referendum to be held on October 1. The Spanish government called the bill illegal and challenged it in the Constitutional Court. The judicial body has suspended all laws concerning the vote adopted by the Catalan authorities. Therefore any potential action of Catalan authorities aimed at holding the referendum is now considered illegal by the government in Madrid.
