Spanish MPs vote down Catalan independence plebiscite

‘Spanish lawmakers on Thursday as expected threw out a Catalan bid to hold an independence referendum which a court had already ruled illegal.
Pro-separatist regional president Carles Puigdemont presented a bill calling on Madrid to “respect” the wealthy northeastern region’s attempt to hold a vote in October.
But 250 out of 350 lawmakers, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservatives and backed by the main opposition Socialists and centrist Ciudadanos, voted down the move.
Regionalist and pro-independence parties as well as the far-left Podemos group cast 92 votes in favor of a referendum.’
Read more: Spanish MPs vote down Catalan independence plebiscite