Catalonia will have independence vote, leader maintains

The leader of Spain’s Catalonia region has told the Spanish prime minister he intends pushing ahead with a secession referendum in November despite the central government’s refusal to allow it.

Speaking after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mariano Rajoy, Catalonia president Artur Mas said that although there was no agreement on the referendum issue, there was a willingness on both sides to keep talking, and that was positive.