Dec 28 Spain's Socialist party on Monday ruled out forming a new government with any party that supported a referendum on independence in Catalonia, a stand that prolongs political uncertainty after this month's inconclusive national election.<br />As the four main parties in Spain vie to form a government following the election that left no party with a parliamentary majority, Catalonia, the engine of the Spanish economy and home to an entrenched independence movement, has emerged as one of the main sticking points.<br />Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's People's Party , which won 123 seats - far short of the 176 minimum needed to govern alone - and the Socialists, who came second, both reject any referendum in Catalonia, where separatists won a majority of seats in a regional election in September.<br />Leftist party Podemos, which has been cast as potential kingmaker and says Spain should be recognised as a multinational state, has said it is committed to holding a referendum if it enters government.
