Catalonia’s ruling coalition said the region would declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of a referendum to be held in October if voters backed secession, in a draft bill proposed on Tuesday.
Gabriela Serra, a member of the coalition that governs Catalonia told AFP that "if the majority of votes are for creating a Catalan republic, obviously independence will have to be declared immediately".
The declaration comes despite Spain’s Constitutional Court blocking a resolution by Catalonia's parliament which called for the referendum to take place and opposition from Madrid’s conservative government. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has also repeatedly expressed his disapproval of the move.
A non-binding 2014 Catalan referendum saw an overwhelming “yes” vote for independence with 0% of voters backing secession, though the turnout was just 2.2 million out of a potential 5.4 million voters.
