Catalonia's separatist president said Friday that come what may, there would be a "legal and binding referendum" for independence from Spain next year despite fierce opposition from the central government.

In an end of year televised message recorded at regional government headquarters in Barcelona, Carles Puigdemont said that 2017 would be a "crucial" year for the wealthy Spanish northeastern region run by a pro-independence administration.

"We Catalans will freely decide our own future through a legal and binding referendum," he said.

Puigdemont announced in the autumn that he would call an independence vote in September 2017, a move that was ratified in a resolution voted by the majority-separatist, regional parliament.

But the Constitutional Court later suspended the resolution pending a five-month period during which it will decide whether to ban the vote for good or lift the suspension.

In his speech, Puigdemont said the vote would "be called in accordance with the mandate of our laws", but did not detail what he would do if the court banned the referendum.

Separatists in Catalonia have for years tried - in vain - to win approval from Spain's central gov-

ernment for an independence vote like Scotland's 2014 referendum.

Former president Artur Mas tried to hold such a referendum, but it was banned by the Constitutional Court so he held a symbolic, nonbinding independence vote instead in November 2014.

More than 80 percent of those who cast their ballot did so for independence — although just 2.3 million people out of a total of 6.3 million eligible voters took part.