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The court was
ruling on an appeal by the Spanish government of Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy, who has said Catalonian independence is
"nonsense" and will never happen.
But Acting Catalan President Artur Mas, who ran the Catalan
government during years of national economic crisis that saw the
independence movement swell, said the government of the wealthy
northeastern region would stick to its plan.
"Legally, it is clear that the Catalan parliament's resolution
is now annulled," he said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio.
"But politically, it is not, because the will of the parliament
cannot be annulled and the will of the parliament reflects the
will and the ideas of a significant part of the Catalonian
population."
The Constitutional Court ruled that the resolution was
unconstitutional and said the Catalan assembly could not
establish itself as an independent legal and political power
above the constitution.
Mas said he wanted to hold another referendum on secession; an
informal vote held last year produced a result of 81 percent in
favor, although the turnout was only around 40 percent.
Parties favoring a split from Spain won a majority of seats in
the Catalan parliament in September, but fell just short of half
the vote.
(Story refiles to correct dateline to Madrid, not London)
(Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sonya Dowsett and Kevin
Liffey)
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