TEMPO.CO, Madrid - Catalonia's regional government said that it would temporarily suspend campaigning for a vote on independence from Spain. The decision came after Spain filed a legal block to the referendum.
"In the next few hours we will file our arguments to overturn the suspension of the vote," Francesc Homs, spokesman for the Catalan government, told reporters. "Although we have withdrawn our campaign, we are not pulling out."
Spain's central government had argued that the vote would breach the country's rule of law because it would be held in Catalonia alone, rather than in the whole of Spain. The legal suspension of Catalonia's plans is expected to last for the next couple of months.
Regardless, secessionist grassroots movements that have swelled in recent years are likely to take center stage, despite having their campaign halted.
RINDU P. HESTYA | REUTERS