Catalan declaration of independence
The Catalan declaration of independence (; ) was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017, which declared the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the founding of an independent Catalan Republic. The Act was immediately suspended by the Parliament. The declaration did not receive recognition from the international community. The declaration and proceeding vote were declared illegal as it was done on a simple majority and not the two-thirds requirement of the Catalan constitution.
2017 Catalan regional election
On 26 October 2017, it was expected that President of the Government of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont would call an election to prevent the enforcement of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which was due to be approved by the Spanish Senate on the following day amid the 2017 Spanish constitutional crisis and which would have resulted in direct rule from the central government in Madrid being imposed over Catalonia. This move sparked outcry within pro-independence ranks, including members within Puigdemont's coalition, who had aimed for a unilateral declaration of independence in response to the Spanish government's move to trigger Article 155. Finally, President Puigdemont ruled out calling an election, allegedly because of the Spanish government's refusal to call off the invocation of the Article 155 procedure even were an election to be called by Catalan authorities. After Puigdemont's refusal to call an election, a debate over a possible declaration of independence went ahead as planned in the Parliament of Catalonia later that day and into the next day, simultaneous to the Spanish Senate debating the enforcement of direct rule in Catalonia. At the end of the debate, the Catalan parliament voted a unilateral declaration of independence which was backed 70–10, two MPs casting a blank ballot and all MPs from Citizens, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia and the People's Party boycotting the vote. Mariano Rajoy subsequently removed the entire Catalan government from office and declared the Parliament's dissolution, calling a regional election for 21 December 2017.