Catalan leaders say they will continue to seek independence within 18 months, defying an attempt by the Spanish Constitutional Court to block the secession process on Wednesday.<br />The Madrid-based court ruled that an appeal by the central government, which seeks to prevent the breakaway of the autonomous northeastern region, must be heard.<br />According to Reuters, it also warned that failure to bring a halt to secession would be seen as “disobedience.”<br />But pro-independence leaders elected to Catalonia’s regional parliament in September have vowed to ignore the ruling.<br />“The will of the Catalan people cannot be suspended,” Oriol Junqueras, one of Catalonia’s independence leaders, said on Twitter.<br />“We are committed to continue with our democratic mandate.”
