MADRID: Catalan nationalist parties and associations have signed a road map to secede from Spain in 2017 if independence movements win a September regional vote.

The election will “serve as a legal mechanism to determine the Catalan people’s will”, two main Catalan nationalist parties and several associations said in an agreement published on Monday.

Nationalist leaders in the wealthy region of northeastern Spain have called the snap regional vote for Sept 27 after Madrid blocked their bid for a referendum on independence.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015

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