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.
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.
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.
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.