RIGHT SPEAK: Catalonians to Vote for Independence whether Spain Likes It or Not

Catalonia's regional leader on Saturday signed a decree convoking a nonbinding referendum on independence for Nov. 9, pitting the wealthy industrial region in a high-stakes showdown with Spain's central government.

The move by regional President Artur Mas, who signed the decree flanked by pro-independence politicians in the government palace in Barcelona, ushers in a period of days or weeks of political uncertainty in a country struggling back from a punishing economic crisis. "Catalonia wants to speak, wants to be heard, wants to vote," he said.

The president of Catalonia's regional government, Artur
Mas, signs the regional law to vote on independence on
Nov. 9 Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Speaking in Madrid shortly afterward, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said the central government would move swiftly to block the referendum in Spain's Constitutional Court.

"That referendum will not be held because it is unconstitutional," she said. Catalan secession would affect all Spaniards, she said, and thus the government in Barcelona had no right to take such a unilateral step.

Nearly 2 Million Peo-Independence Catalonians
flooded the Sreets of Barcelona on September 11
Demanding a Vote on Independence

Should the court agree to hear the case, Catalonia would be barred by injunction from holding the vote until a final decision is rendered, and that could take months.

Mr. Mas has dropped hints that he would abide by a court decision, but he is facing pressure at home from many citizens groups that want to go ahead with the referendum regardless of the circumstances.

Outside the palace in Barcelona on Saturday, Carme Forcadell, head of the Catalan National Assembly, the largest pro-independence citizens group, said that in the event the court issues an injunction against the vote, activists should take the streets that same night to begin the campaign for the referendum anyway. Ms. Forcadell's group has organized massive street demonstrations in recent years, including one on Sept. 11 in which hundreds of thousands of Catalans formed an 11-mile long "V"—for vote—in downtown Barcelona.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Friday he would preside over an emergency cabinet meeting on the issue on Monday after returning from a visit to China.

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UPDATE:

Spanish Court Blocks Catalonia Independence Referendum .... there is still a chance Catalonians will defy the Court and vote anyway.