Catalonia Cancels Independence Referendum

Catalonia's regional government has decided to call off the November referendum on independence from Spain.

Following a meeting between pro-independence parties and the regional government, officials said on Monday that they have decided that the referendum, planned for November 9, cannot be carried out.

"The (regional) government has determined that the consultation can't take place," Joan Herrera of the provincial political party, Initiative for Catalonia, told reporters.

Reports say the cancellation is due to a lack of legal guarantees.

An alternative proposal is to be announced by Catalonia's nationalist government on Tuesday.

On September 29, Spain's constitutional court suspended Catalonia's referendum on independence after a request from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

On September 30, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona, vowing to disobey Spain's blocking of Catalonia's independence referendum.

The Catalan government said on October 3 that it would push ahead with its scheduled plan to hold the referendum, despite the court order to suspend the vote.