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.
Politics of Catalonia
It would be difficult to understand the current politics of Catalonia without the issue of independence or self-determination. The law does not recognize a "right of self-determination" in spite of a politically relevant pro independence movement in Catalonia. According to the governmental Sociology Studies Center (CIS) CIS official poll in 2001 there were 33.9% of Catalans in favor of an independent Catalonia, 48.1% against, 13.3 undecided and 2.8% did not answer. If the individual was Catalan speaker and was less than 44 years of age then 75% was in favor of independence. CIS has not repeated this poll to date.