Catalan Parties Agree on Independence Referendum in 2014

The two main Catalan seperatist parties have agreed to stage a referendum on the independence of the region in north eastern Spain in 2014.

The agreement between Catalan nationalist party (CiU) of Catalan President Artur Mas and the more radical Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya led by Oriol Junqueras will allow Mas to remain in power, Euronews has noted.

After the elections in November, the governing centre-right CiU led by Artur Mas remained the largest party, winning 50 seats out of 135, down from 62 last time. The left-wing separatist ERC party came second with 21 seats.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government opposes the referendum and has vowed to block it through the Constitutional Court.

Spain's economic crisis has fanned separatism in Catalonia, where many of the 7.6 million residents believe that the region would have weathered the crisis better without transferring part of its tax revenue to poorer Spanish regions.

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