Catalan declaration of independence
On 27 October 2017, a resolution based on the "Declaration of the representatives of Catalonia" declaring the independence of Catalonia was voted in the Parliament and was approved with 70 votes in favor, 10 against, and 2 blank votes. Fifty-three MPs from the opposition refused to be present during the voting after the legal services of the Catalan Parliament advised that the voting could not take place, as the law on which it was based had been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court. The two pro-independence parties, JxSí and CUP, had 72 seats, and the vote in favour of independence obtained 70.
2017 Catalan independence referendum
The Catalan independence referendum of 2017, also known by the numeronym 1-O (for "1 October") in Spanish media, was an independence referendum held on 1 October 2017 in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and called by the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was declared illegal on 7 September 2017 and suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain after a request from the Spanish government, who declared it a breach of the Spanish Constitution. Additionally, in early September the High Court of Justice of Catalonia had issued orders to the police to try to prevent it, including the detention of various persons responsible for its preparation. Due to alleged irregularities during the voting process as well as to the use of force by the National Police and Civil Guard, international observers invited by the Generalitat declared that the referendum failed to meet the minimum international standards for elections.