Barcelonia 3 Jul (ANA) - Catalonia president Carles Puigdemont has vowed nothing will stop him from holding an independence referendum despite the vote being ruled illegal by the Spanish courts. The pro-separatist leader pledged to plough ahead with the October vote, saying “from the very first moment we will act as a completely independent state” if a majority votes “yes”. This is despite central lawmakers on Friday denying Catalonia the bid, after it was declared illegal by a Spanish court. When quizzed over “why now?”, Mr Puigdemont said: “Is there ever a right moment for this?, adding “nothing will stop us” from going ahead with the referendum. He added: “We are a European nation. Spain is a state against Catalonia.” Local Catalan politicians have claimed they are willing to go to court or even jail in their fight to secure independence. But Mr Puigdemont dismissed they would resort to violence. He said: “I am always against terrorism. Our reaction will be a civic reaction.”  Of the 350 members led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservatives and backed by the main opposition Socialists and centrist Ciudadanos, 250 voted down the referendum. General secretary José Antonio Bermúdez de Castro urged Mr Puigdemont to take note of the "clear and forceful response" given in the decision. But Catalan top officials still plan to visit more than 200 towns all over the country to outline details of the referendum. (ANA)

FA/ANA/3 July 2017-------