BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Parliament members in Catalonia on Monday voted in favor of a resolution that could see the region secede from Spain within 18 months.
Lawmakers voted 72- 63 in a majority for Catalonia becoming independent from Spain by 2017. The motion calls for "the beginning of the creation of independent Catalan state in the form of a republic."
Catalan President Artur Mas and his Together for Yes coalition party support the independence resolution. The small, far-left separatist CUP party also backs secession.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his Popular Party, which is strongly anti-independence, have the support of the Socialists opposition party and the new, popular center-right Ciudadanos group.
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The approved plan would seek talks with the Spanish government, the European Union and the international community. It would begin setting up the necessary institution for a secession.
About 7.5 million people live in the Catalonia region, which has its own language and makes up a fifth of Spain's economic output. The calls for autonomy and independence have intensified amid Spain's financial crisis.
Barcelona, Catalonia's regional capital, has a population of about 1.6 million while Madrid, Spain's capital, has a population of about 3.1 million.
Spain's government in Madrid is expected to challenge the vote in the country's Constitutional Court.
Catalonia held an unofficial referendum last year on whether the region should become independent from Spain. Turnout for the vote was 37 percent and more than 80 percent voted in favor of secession.
Spain's judges previously ruled the referendum would not count, as it was against the constitution -- arguing all Spanish people have a say to decide on matters of sovereignty.
