As The Economist went to press he was due to announce a non-binding referendum for November 9th.
As part of that plan, the administration wants to prevent a binding referendum scheduled for this November that would allow the island's voters to decide whether the Navy should continue using the range.
Independence from UK was rejected as a result of an official binding referendum with a 84.59% turnout.
The Catalan president, Artur Mas, will soon be taking the next logical step: a formal request for a binding referendum on the Scottish model.
"Now, if the question is 'will you stop the political process in Catalonia', the answer is no until we have the certainty that we have a specific date for a binding referendum on independence," he said.
Instead, he has indicated that he will use the vote to push for a binding referendum.
He has said the opposition should simply wait for a binding referendum on his rule in August -- halfway through his term, as permitted by law.
Mr. Chávez, the former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and survived a brief coup in April, says the country's Constitution only allows for a binding referendum on his presidency in August, halfway through the term.
It came after a succession of official demands from its Parliament to the Spanish Congress for a binding referendum in 2001, 2004, 2012, and 2013 and again on 17 January and 18 September 2014.9 Quite predictably, since the Spanish constitution does not allow such a referendum and a strong majority of the Spanish MPs rejected it, the Spanish Congress turned down those seven demands.
Polls suggest no party will earn an absolute majority in the general elections, meaning Catalan leaders could have a better chance of negotiating greater self-governance for Catalonia or a binding referendum by the end of the year.
