A Region In Spain Took A Step Toward Secession
Catalonia's Parliament passed a measure to let its citizens vote on whether to seek independence.
LEARN MORESpain Is Going To Great Lengths To Block Catalonia's Independence Vote
Thousands of police have been sent to the region to shut down voting.
Spain Is Going To Great Lengths To Block Catalonia's Independence Vote
Getty Images
September 30, 2017
Catalonia is scheduled to hold a long-awaited referendum vote Sunday, but Spain is putting a lot of effort toward making sure that doesn't happen.
Spain's constitutional court suspended the referendum in early September. Officials have declared it illegal and vowed to "stop at nothing" to prevent it. Thousands of police have also been sent to the area to shut down voting.
Catalonia is an autonomous region within Spain; it has its own government and its own language. Its separation from Spain has been an issue for decades.
Activists in Catalonia are reportedly posting up at schools to keep them open so people can cast their ballots.
Those ballots will ask: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?"
Catalonia held a symbolic independence vote back in 2014. Four in five voters supported sovereignty. But opinion polls taken earlier this year show 41 percent of Catalans support independence, while 49 percent oppose.
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