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.
Catalan independence movement
The Principality of Catalonia was a territory of the Crown of Aragon in the late 15th century, when Aragon was united with the Crown of Castile to form what would become the Kingdom of Spain. Initially, the various territories of Aragon, including Catalonia, kept their own "fueros" (laws and customs) and political institutions. In 1640, during the Thirty Years War and Franco-Spanish War, Catalan peasants revolted, starting the Reapers' War. The following year, the Catalan government seceded, called France for protection and finally named Louis XIII count of Barcelona. After a decade of war, the Spanish Monarchy counter-attacked in 1652 and recovered Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia, except for Roussillon, which was annexed by France. Catalonia retained its "fueros".