http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41191327
Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy says he will ask the courts to revoke a law passed by the Catalan regional government to hold a referendum on independence. He described the vote, planned for 1 October, as illegal.
Earlier, state prosecutors said they would bring criminal charges against Catalan leaders for their endorsement of the referendum.
The pro-independence majority in Catalonia's parliament passed the referendum law on Wednesday. Spain's wealthy north-eastern region already has autonomous powers but the regional government says it has popular support for full secession.
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(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday September 09 2017, @05:11PM
Newfoundland gave up its Dominion status during the depression due to basically going bankrupt. It's hard to imagine it doing much better as an independent country now. The rest of the Maritimes don't have much going for them economically either.
As for French populations, Manitoba and New Brunswick both have large enough French speaking populations that it wouldn't be that easy for Canada to become purely English speaking. And considering that it would take an amendment to the Constitution to break up Canada, there would have to be a lot of compromise.