Spanish Constitutional Court suspends Catalonia's independence referendum

A report has said that the Constitutional Court of Spain has suspended Catalonia's planned independence referendum by arguing that it first needs to consider whether the November 9 vote breached the constitution.

The court was acting on a request from the Spanish central government in Madrid, reported the BBC.

The head of Catalonia, the wealthy north-eastern Spanish region, had signed a decree on Saturday calling for the referendum. However, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy contended that the referendum was not compatible with the nation's constitution.

Inspired by the Scottish referendum, hundreds of thousands of Catalans protested in Barcelona recently, demanding their right to vote.