Spain: Catalan Leader Vows Referendum Will Occur

By Alyssa McMurtry



MADRID (AA)- The president of Catalonia reaffirmed Monday his commitment to holding a vote over the region's independence during a conference in Madrid on Monday.



"We will wait for dialogue, until the last minute of overtime, but if the government of Spain does not articulate an agreed-upon project [...] we will hold the referendum," said Carles Puigdemont, leader of the northeastern region of Spain.



His statement comes after to leaked documents were published earlier on Monday by leading Spanish daily El Pais, which purport to outline the Catalan government's plan to break away from Spain should Madrid not allow a referendum.



"If the Spanish state effectively impedes the holding of a referendum, this law will enter into effect in a complete and immediate manner when the [regional] parliament has verified such an impediment," the draft legislation reads, according to El Pais.



The Catalan parliament denied that this document was relevant or valid.



Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, criticizing Puigdemont for not debating the referendum in parliament, but in a private conference instead, told reporters at a press conference on Monday morning: "The blackmail and threats that he [Puigdemont] has put on the table are intolerable."



In the Madrid conference entitled an "invitation to democratic agreement", Puigdemont said he had attempted to present his proposal in the senate but that it constituted the "tenth rejection of dialogue" by the Spanish government.



Madrid and Catalonia have been at odds over independence since September 2015, when pro-separatist forces in Catalonia won a majority government in regional elections. They promised to hold a referendum on independence by autumn of 2017. At the same time, the central government in Madrid has promised to block it.



"I can say to the people of Spain, not to worry because this [the breakaway law] will never come into force and that national sovereignty will remain national sovereignty as long as all Spaniards, together, want it to stay this way," added Rajoy at the news conference on Monday.



However, Puigdemont said that although he was open to dialogue, Catalonia had "decided to decide".



"The state doesn't have enough power to stop so much democracy," he added. -