By Felix Nkambeh Tih
ANKARA
The Spanish Constitutional Court barred Catalonia from holding a “symbolic” poll to determine its aspirations for independence Tuesday.
The wealthy Catalonia region's poll was originally scheduled for Sunday November 9, but the Spanish government vowed to stop the non-binding consultation process.
On September 19, a day after Scotland voted against independence from the U.K., the Catalan parliament in Barcelona passed a law allowing a referendum on its independence issue with the approval of more than two-thirds of its members. Catalan President Artur Mas also signed a decree regarding it on September 27, 2014.
Catalonians, who are largely in favor of seceding from Spain, had taken to the streets of Barcelona to celebrate the decision.
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, however, asked the Council of States, a Spanish advisory body, for its opinion on the new consultation process and filed a legal case against the move at the Constitutional Court.
Mas had accused the government of "abusing its power and the law" to resolve political conflicts.
The symbolic consultation process was proposed by Catalonia's government in October as an alternative plan after the Constitutional Court blocked an earlier Catalan bid to hold a referendum on its independence.
The recent Basque calls for independence dates back to the early 1960s. Armed separatist groups such as the ETA also launched attacks against the Spanish state in 1961.
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