Catalan nationalists to call for independence vote on 1 October

The president of the regional government of Catalonia said he will call for an independence referendum on 1 October.

Seventeen months after coming to power, president Carles Puigdemont said Catalans will be asked to vote whether they want their territory to become an independent country, with a republican form of government.

Speaking on Friday morning, Puigdemont accused Spanish president Mariano Rajoy of not wanting to help find "a real solution" to Catalans' aspirations.

Meanwhile, his vice-president Oriol Junqueras, who is also the head of the Republican Left of Catalonia party, recalled how the government in Madrid had refused to negotiate with his government on 18 occasions.

However, a formal call for a referendum is not expected until the second fortnight of August in order to deny the central government of any legal basis to annul the announcement.

Similarly, the regional government in Barcelona had reportedly launched public tenders for the supplies or urns and ballots needed for a vote but officially they are to be used for other purposes.