http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SPAIN_CATALONIA_INDEPENDENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-16-05-16-59
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- A European season of separatist fervor kicked off Thursday with Catalan lawmakers voting on whether to seek the right to hold a referendum on independence from Spain. The EU will be watching closely as Belgium's Dutch speakers gear up to push for greater autonomy in May elections, and Scotland prepares to hold its own referendum on breaking away from Britain in the fall.
The vote is a milestone in years of mass protests by Catalans, who are fiercely proud of their distinct culture and language, demanding the right to decide whether they want to secede. As lawmakers entered the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Thursday morning to debate ahead of the vote, dozens of Catalans waved independence flags and a smaller group unfurled Spanish flags, yelling "Catalonia is Spain!"
But the vote is also largely a symbolic one.
Catalonia can ask Spain for permission to hold an independence vote all it wants; Madrid still has the power to say "no" - and it almost certainly will.
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