Catalunya 'IndyRef': Only four in 10 consider it 'valid' and 'legal'
Sunday, September 24, 2017 @ 9:23 PM
SIX in 10 residents in Catalunya believe the planned referendum is 'illegal' or 'invalid' and will not vote, according to a poll in national daily broadsheet El País – but regional president Carles Puigdemont has not set a minimum turn-out and plans to declare independence if anything over half of the remaining 40% vote for it.
This said, a high number of catalanes of all political persuasions firmly believe that a referendum agreed in format, date and legality by both the Spanish State and Catalunya is necessary.
Among those who would normally vote for the left-wing socialists (PSOE), three-quarters want to see an 'agreed' referendum, whilst 57% of those who voted for centre-right Ciudadanos and even 49% of citizens who voted for the currently-reigning right-wing PP believe this is the way forward.
Just two weeks ago, after Spain's Constitutional Court officially blocked the referendum – a verdict which has been ignored by Puigdemont's team – a total of 56% of residents in Catalunya said they did not consider the voting to be legal or valid, but this has since risen to 61%, according to El País.
An overwhelming number of Catalunya's residents, irrespective of whom they voted for or would vote for in the general elections, believe a referendum agreed by both parties is the way forward – over eight in 10 hold this opinion, according to a survey by Metroscopia – and only 31% believe that even if the current referendum on October 1 goes ahead, it would carry enough guarantees of being considered valid and legal internationally.
Nearly six in 10, or 57%, believe negotiations between Catalunya and Spain should form the basis of any referendum, in the same way as the Basque Country did 14 years ago with its famous 'Ibarretxe Plan'.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com