Catalonia sets referendum date next year, Spain says it won't happen

Catalonia's President Artur Mas gestures during a news conference presenting the government plan at Generalitat de Catalunya Palace in Barcelona June 11, 2013. REUTERS/Albert Gea

MADRID (Reuters) - Separatist parties in Spain's Catalonia region set November 9 next year as the date for a proposed independence referendum on Thursday and agreed the wording, but the Spanish government immediately poured cold water on the plan.

Catalan regional government head Artur Mas said the vote, which the Spanish government says would be unconstitutional, would ask two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to be a state?" and "Do you want that state to be independent?"