Key Dates in Catalonia's Bid for Independence
Here are key dates in the campaign for the Catalonia region to gain independence from the rest of Spain:
October 25, 1979: During Spain's transition to democracy after the death in 1975 of the dictator Francisco Franco, Catalans approve in a referendum a charter defining Catalonia as an autonomous community under Spain's constitution.
June 18, 2006: Catalans approve a new autonomy charter, negotiated with the then Socialist government and approved by the national parliament, increasing their fiscal and judicial powers and describing Catalonia as a "nation".
September 2009: The small town of Arenys De Munt becomes the first in Catalonia to hold a symbolic local vote on regional sovereignty. Hundreds more towns follow over subsequent months.
June 2010: Responding to an appeal by the conservative Popular Party, Spain's Constitutional Court approves parts of the 2006 autonomy charter but rules that the word "nation" to describe the region has "no legal value".
September 11, 2012: More than a million people swamp Barcelona in a demonstration demanding independence for Catalonia. Similar mass rallies fill the city on the same date in 2013 and 2014.
September 20, 2012: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejects Mas' request for greater tax-and-spend powers for Catalonia. Five days later, Mas calls a snap regional election promising to hold a referendum on the future of Catalonia.
November 26, 2012: Mas's center-right CiU alliance wins the snap election overall but loses its absolute majority in the regional parliament, forcing it to broker an alliance with the left-wing nationalists ERC.
January 23, 2013: Catalonia's parliament approves a declaration of sovereignty that it says permits the region to vote on self-determination, but Spanish judges rule that unconstitutional in March 2014.
December 12, 2013: Political parties in Catalonia agree to call a referendum on independence for November 9, 2014.
September 27, 2014: Mas signs a decree formally calling a vote on independence for November 9. Spain's government vows to block it immediately through an appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Source: Agence France Presse
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