Spain's central authorities moved Thursday to crush plans by the northeastern region of Catalonia to hold an independence referendum and took steps to prosecute regional lawmakers backing the ballot.
A long-running campaign for independence by a group of Catalan politicians, who hold a majority in the regional parliament, came to a head Wednesday when they approved a law to allow a vote on secession from Spain scheduled for Oct. 1.
The country's Constitutional Court, Spain's highest legal authority on such matters, suspended the referendum law late Thursday to allow judges time to consider whether the vote breaches the country's constitution.