Thursday's vote is a milestone in years of mass protests by Catalans, who are fiercely proud of their distinct culture and language, demanding the right to decide whether they want to secede.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has repeatedly said he will not allow a Catalonia secession referendum because Spain’s 1978 constitution doesn’t envision anything but a unified Spanish state, and mandates that referendums affecting Spain must be held nationally and not regionally.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has an absolute majority in Parliament that assures he will prevail, and the main opposition Socialist party also opposes a referendum vote
As lawmakers entered the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Thursday morning to debate ahead of the vote, dozens of Catalans waved independence flags and a smaller group unfurled Spanish flags, yelling "Catalonia is Spain!"
But the vote is also largely a symbolic one.
Catalonia can ask Spain for permission to hold an independence vote all
it wants; Madrid still has the power to say "no" — and it almost
certainly will.
In this photo taken on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, a citizen from Barcelona
signs a form during a campaign to encourage citizens to exercise their
right of petition for the independence of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain
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