Saturday, May 27, 2017 | 6:05 a.m.
BARCELONA, Spain — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has warned a group of Catalan business leaders of the negative economic impact if separatists succeed in winning independence for the northeastern region.
Speaking in the Catalan coastal town of Sitges on Saturday, Rajoy said a breakup of Spain would have "terrible economic consequences."
Rajoy also repeated his pledge that his government won't permit the referendum, which he calls unconstitutional.
The Catalan government has said it will hold the vote anyway by September.
The president of the Circulo de Economia business group, Juan Jose Bruguera, urged Rajoy to resolve the political conflict by finding "alternative means that are not just black and white."
Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, represents a fifth of Spain's GDP.
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