Catalonia set to disregard Madrid with independence referendum law

The Catalan parliament is expected to approve plans for a referendum to break away from Spain, setting it on a collision course with the Spanish government which has vowed to stop it.

Lawmakers are set to vote on the law approving an October 1 referendum in the coming hours, and it is likely to be approved as the pro-independence parties have a majority in the regional parliament.

The law risks bringing down the full fury of the Spanish government, which has promised to use all legal means to stop the referendum. The vote has been ruled as illegal by the Spanish constitutional courts.

“In one day they hope to do away with the constitution and national sovereignty. They will not do it,” Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said on Monday. “No one can do away with Spanish democracy.”

Madrid is expected to launch a legal challenge against the law, which most experts say is likely to be upheld by the courts — forcing the Catalan government into a position of open defiance of the country’s judiciary.

UCJ, UNILORIN.