AKIPRESS.COM - Spain's Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a petition by the northeastern Catalonia region to allow an independence referendum, a decision that is likely to increase the divide between both sides, Naharnet reported.

The request was voted down, 299-47, with one abstention, after nearly seven hours of debate.

Catalonia's pro-independence sentiment has exploded recently amid objections over how the region is treated by the central government. Many in the region located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula are convinced that independence would benefit them economically.

But the issue is politically fraught, with many lawmakers arguing that Catalonians alone cannot decide something that affects all of Spain. The referendum has stirred debate about whether Spain's 1978 Constitution should be reformed to devolve more power and to calm territorial unease.

Catalonian lawmaker Joan Herrera supposed that a “no” vote would only “increase the difference” between Catalonia and Spain because Catalonians were not being allowed to exercise what they see as their right to decide their future.

Catalonia, with a population of 7.5 million, represents a fifth of Spain's $1.5-trillion GDP. Like other regions in Spain, it has its own language as well as Spanish, and substantial autonomy.