Independence Vote Due in Catalonia on Sunday Will Not Be Held - Spanish Gov't

The spokesman of the Spanish Council of Ministers said that there would be no referendum in Catalonia on October 1 as the Spanish government considered it illegitimate.

MADRID (Sputnik) — Spokesman of the Spanish Council of Ministers Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Friday that the referendum on the Catalan independence would not be held on October 1.

"There will be no referendum on October 1," Mendez de Vigo said at a press conference after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The spokesman stressed that the referendum had been prepared by the Catalan government "on illegitimate grounds."

On September 15, Mendez de Vigo said that the Spanish government must take extreme measures to prevent the vote in the autonomous region.

On September 6, Catalonia’s Parliament passed a bill enabling an independence referendum to be held on October 1. The Spanish government called the bill illegal and challenged it in the Constitutional Court. The judicial body has suspended all laws concerning the vote adopted by the Catalan authorities. Therefore any potential action of Catalan authorities aimed at holding the referendum is now considered illegal by the government in Madrid.