Scottish Independence: Catalonia Smacks Down Scotland Referendum Parallels

Catalonia's government has hit back at comparisons between its battle for independence from Spain and Scotland's attempts to break away from the rest of the UK.

The Catalonia government said in a report that its fight for independence vastly differs from Scotland's attempts, and is shouldn't be compared, as the British government "respects" the Scots and has authorised a referendum while Spain "absolutely refuses".

"It is almost impossible to draw parallels between the Catalan and the Scottish process," said the Catalonian government.

The Scots will be asked the straight "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" on 18 September this year.

The report follows Catalan government meetings with British and Scottish business partners in Edinburgh in February.

While officials said the Catalan and Scottish bids for independence are "totally different", they did note that the only similarity is the fact that "the majority [of the population] has placed its trust in a political project that has the right to decide, through consultation, one of the main lines of action."

Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has repeatedly said that the situation with Catalonia does not reflect what is happening with Scotland.

Catalonia and Scotland are "absolutely and totally different, he said.

Catalonia is an industrial and commercial titan in Spain and pays far higher taxes than any other regional community.

It accounts for over 20% of Spain's GDP, and only 8% is ploughed back into it by the state.

The Catalan community represents 16% of the total Spanish population.