MADRID
The Spanish Parliament has rejected plans for the northeastern Catalonia region to hold a referendum to declare its independence.
The motion rejected the Barcelona-based regional government of Catalonia to hold the referendum in November. The rejection was approved on Thursday by 272 deputies from the country's mainstream parties, against 43 votes from Catalonian nationalist and leftist groups.
Three Spanish national parties, the Union, Progress and Democracy Party (UPyD), the Popular Party (PP), and the Socialist Party (PSOE) passed the motion. The UPyD party said that "in no case, any part of the citizenship can decide on the State's territorial organization or on any other aspect or provision of the Constitution, excluding the others from this eventual decision".
Polls indicate that Catalans are roughly evenly split on independence.
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