Catalan declaration of independence

Declaration of independence of Catalonia
Page 1 of the Declaration
Presented10 October 2017
Ratified27 October 2017
Date effectiveNot effective
RepealedEffectively unenforceable under Article 155 of the Constitution of Spain
Signatories72 of the 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia
PurposeUnilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia as a sovereign republic from Spain

The Catalan declaration of independence (Catalan: Declaració d'independència de Catalunya) was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017. While the text proclaims the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the establishment of an independent Catalan Republic, the declaration itself did not receive recognition from the international community and it produced no legal effect.

On 10 October, in the aftermath of the 1 October 2017 Catalan independence referendum and a general strike on 3 October, a document declaring Catalonia to be an independent republic was signed by the members of Catalonia's pro-independence parliamentary majority.[1][2][3] The same document was voted for on 27 October by a majority of 70 out of 135 MPs in a plenary session.[4] 10 MPs voted against the declaration and 53 MPs refused to be present during the vote, after the legal counsels of the Catalan Parliament advised that it could not take place as the law on which it was based had been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court.[5][6] On the same day, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain invoked Article 155 of the Constitution of Spain for the first time in history. This action dismissed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his cabinet, and called for fresh Catalan elections on 21 December 2017.[7] The Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría was assigned to be the acting president of Catalonia until the December elections.[8]

  1. ^ Badcock, James; Crisp, James (10 October 2017). "Catalan leader puts declaration of independence on hold to allow time for talks". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Catalan President Signs Declaration Of Independence, But Will Seek Talks With Madrid". huffingtonpost.co.uk. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Catalan leader signs declaration document". euronews.com. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  4. ^ Jones, Sam; Burgen, Stephen; Graham-Harrison, Emma (28 October 2017). "Spain dissolves Catalan parliament and calls fresh elections". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Alandete, David (27 October 2017). "Análisis | Is Catalonia independent?". El País.
  6. ^ Piñol, Pere Ríos, Àngels (27 October 2017). "El Parlament de Cataluña aprueba la resolución para declarar la independencia". El País (in Spanish).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Spanish PM dissolves Catalan parliament". BBC News. 27 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Declaración de Independencia Cataluña: Rajoy delega en Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría la Presidencia de la Generalitat". El Mundo. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.