Catalan declared independence from Spain

The Catalan parliament voted to declare independence from Spain on Friday. During a secret vote in Barcelona, 70 Catalan lawmakers voted in favour of independence from Spain, 10 voted against the proposal, while two cast blank ballots. Soon after the Catalan parliament declared independence, Spain’s Senate approved unprecedented powers to the central government to take over the region.

Two right-wing parties, Citizens (Cs) and People’s Party (PP), along with the centre-left Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) staged walk-out during the voting. Thousands of people witnessed the historic voting process and the counting live on big screens outside Catalonia’s parliament in Barcelona.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, tweeted immediately after the vote calling for calm. He vowed to ‘restore legality’ in Catalonia. Rajoy called on senators to approve direct rule over Catalonia. Earlier today, two key Catalan separatist parties tabled a proposal to declare it an independent republic.