(19 Sep 2014) The President of the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia called on Friday for an independence referendum for Catalonia, a day after Scottish voters rejected independence.
Artur Mas congratulated UK Prime Minister David Cameron for allowing the vote to go ahead.
"(He) said 'I could have blocked the referendum in Scotland, but I'm a democrat'. And this is something that should be heard in Madrid," Mas told media in Barcelona on Friday.
Some Spanish citizens living in Catalonia do not feel any association with Spain and long to split from the Madrid administration, but others across the country do not agree with the idea of the region becoming independent.
Later on Friday, the regional parliament in Catalonia was expected to grant Mas the power to call a secession referendum that the central government in Madrid says would be illegal.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to prevent the 9 November vote that separatist Catalans want to hold in the wealthy Mediterranean region of 7.5 million people.
Spain's Constitution doesn't allow referenda that do not include all Spaniards and experts say Spain's Constitutional Court would rule the vote illegal.
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