Spain faced a national divide Wednesday after its lawmakers overwhelmingly shot down Catalonia's bid for an independence referendum.

Spain's parliament refused the northeastern region's request to hold a November 9 referendum by a landslide 299 votes to 47 after a seven-hour debate Tuesday.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy led parliament in spurning Catalonia's secessionist bid, refusing to countenance a breakup of Spain.

His ruling conservative Popular Party (PP), the main opposition Socialists and the centrist Union for Progress and Democracy all voted to block the Catalan petition.

"But that does not resolve the problem," warned the conservative daily El Mundo.

"Now is the time to turn to politics to confront the social divide in Catalonia and to reach an overarching agreement on coexistence," the paper urged.

Indeed, there is a groundswell of resentment in Catalonia over its relationship with the rest of the country.

Proud of their distinct language and culture, a growing number of Catalonia's 7.5 million residents feel the redistribution of their taxes to other regions is unfair and that the region would be better off on its own.

Even after the Spanish parliament's rejection, Catalonia's political leader Artur Mas vowed to carry on seeking a legal way to hold the referendum, which would ask voters two questions:

- "Do you think that Catalonia should be a state, yes or no?"

- "If yes, do you want that state to be independent, yes or no?"

Catalonia argues that a 2006 Catalan autonomy statute passed by Spain's parliament granted the region the power to hold referendums.

Mas has threatened to call snap regional elections as a form of plebiscite on the struggle for independence.

AFP