Two Catalan separatist parties on Tuesday agreed to stage a referendum on the independence of the north-eastern Spanish region in 2014, dpa reported. The agreement between Catalan Prime Minister Artur Mas' Catalan nationalist party CiU and the more radical separatist ERC will allow Mas to remain premier following the November 25 regional elections, in which the CiU lost support. However, the referendum can be postponed if the two parties agree to do so, said ERC leader Oriol Junqueras, who informed the press about the deal. The agreement between CiU and ERC was expected to be presented officially on Wednesday. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government opposes the referendum and has vowed to block it through the Constitutional Court. Spain's economic crisis has fanned separatism in Catalonia, where many of the 7.6 million residents believe that the region would have weathered the crisis better without transferring part of its tax revenue to poorer Spanish regions.
