The president of Spain's Catalonia region, Artur Mas, signed a decree on Saturday calling an independence referendum on November 9, a vote the central government has said would violate the constitution and has promised to block.<br/> <br />A long-standing pro-independence movement in the north-eastern region has gathered momentum during recent years of economic hardship.<br/> <br />Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called an special cabinet meeting on Monday to formalise his government's legal challenge to the vote in the constitutional court.
