The Spanish government has described Catalan calls for an independence referendum as illegal.

On Monday, Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy called the wealthy region's bid incompatible with the constitution.

The Prime Minister has officially called on the country's Constitutional Court to proclaim the vote scheduled for Nov. 9. as illegal and undemocratic.

After chairing an emergency cabinet meeting in Madrid, the PM said in a televised statement that "Nothing and nobody can, whether power or institution, can break this principle of single and indivisible sovereignty on which our coexistence is based."

Catalonia is however defiant. On Saturday, Catalonia's President Artur Mas officially signed a decree for an independence referendum in Barcelona, the regional sit of government.

The patriotic and wealthy region has tried to break away from Spain in the past. President Mas says "Like all the nations of the world, Catalonia has the right to decide its political future."

Catalonia has been inspired by the recently ended Scottish referendum which ended with more people wanting to remain a part of the United Kingdom.

But unlike Britain, the government in Madrid has refused allow the voting to take place, citing that any regional independence referendum would be a threat to sovereignty and a violation of the 1978 Spanish constitution. 

"No one has the right to deprive all the Spanish people of the right to decide what their country is," PM Rajoy says.

However President Mas was quoted as saying "We believe that political issues must be resolved by negotiation and civilized attitudes."

The Spanish Deputy Prime Minster Saenz de Santamaria recently also spoke to reporters in a press conference held about the Catalan call to vote if they will remain as a part of Spain. He said" We deeply regret this, and believe the Catalan President's initiative is a mistake."

He insisted on unity and said the calls for independence from Spain "fractures the Catalan society, divides that Catalan people and distances them from Europe and the spirit of the times."

The majority of Catalans - about 45% - are believed to agree for the referendum to be suspended if the Spanish Constitutional Courts pronounces it as illegal. And according to the poll from Spain's EL Pais quoted by the BCC, just 23% percent of Catalans were in favor of the voting to continue as planned despite the Court's ruling.

Meanwhile, the referendum has been suspended indefinitely pending the Court's ruling on its validity.