“The referendum will not take place,” says Spanish government

Barcelona.- The Spanish government says a Catalan independence referendum is illegal because it is unconstitutional, and that it will file charges if any actions are undertaken to organize it. The spokesperson for the Spanish executive, Iñigo Méndez Vigo, confirmed this position on Friday to the press in reaction to the announcement that the vote will be held on October 1. Other political and social leaders immediately reacted to the announcement. The president of Andalusia, Socialist Susana Díaz, called the vote a “fraud”, while the leader of the party’s Catalan branch, Miquel Iceta, was convinced that the referendum will not take place. On the other hand, Catalan activist groups such as Òmnium Cultural and the Association of the Catalan Municipalities for Independence (AMI) confirmed their support for the referendum, trusting in the “strength of the people” and “assuming all the consequences, if necessary”. 

The reactions came swiftly in response to the Catalan government's announcement of October 1 as the date for the independence referendum and the question that the citizens of Catalonia will be asked: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent country in the form of a republic?”

The Spanish and Catalan socialist parties aligned with the position of the Spanish government, supporting the argument that the referendum will not take place, and that conducting this vote would be outside the Spanish legal framework. Moreover, the Catalan socialist Miquel Iceta said that there isn't a majority in Catalonia for this kind of referendum and that “no project has been presented in the Catalan chamber," to give legal support to the referendum.