Live updates: More than 800 injured as Catalans defy police
- 7 years ago
Polls have closed in Catalonia following an independence referendum deemed illegal by Spanish authorities.
More than 800 people were injured in clashes with police sent to prevent the poll, which the central government says is illegal.
Voters were asked to answer the question: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”
In a speech following the close of polls, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said there could be “no acceptance of this illegal referendum.”
“What the Spanish people saw today is that the rule of law remains strong in Spain and we remain strong against those who would counter our laws,” he said.
Rajoy added that he would call a special session of parliament tomorrow.
As of around 10pm, Catalonia’s health department said 844 people had required medical assistance a result of police violence.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Interior Ministry said 12 police officers were injured in clashes. Writing on Twitter, the ministry said personnel from Spain’s military law enforcement agency, Guardia Civil, had been subjected to “harassment and attacks”.
It confirmed that three people were arrested for disobeying security officers.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria gave a statement early Sunday afternoon, calling on the Catalonia government to stop the illegal and “senseless” referendum, and congratulating the security forces on the crackdown.
“Decisions that protect everybody’s rights have been followed. All the security forces have acted in a proportionate way… What they did was a democratic obligation,” she said.
Officers were seen smashing windows with axes to reach the ballot boxes and voting cards.
Clashes also broke out between officers from Guardia Civil and those from Catalonia’s local police force, Mossos.
Guardia Civil has accused Mossos of not obeying a court order to halt the referendum, while Mossos insists it had been doing so in a “proportional way”.
International figures including UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel and former European Parliament president Martin Schulz have condemned the violence.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement saying that even though Spain’s top court had ruled that the referendum should not go ahead, the state still had a duty to protect the rights to “peaceful assembly and free expression.”
“That applies equally to those who oppose independence and those who support it,” said HRW Western Europe Researcher Kartik Raj.
Minutes before Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was due to cast his ballot, law enforcement agents raided the polling station where he announced he would vote, in the province of Girona. However, Puigdemont was later seen successfully casting his vote in another polling station, located in the village of Cornella del Terri.
“I’ve voted in Cornella, very long queues. Their dignity contrasts with the police violence,” he tweeted.
Organisers had called on people to start voting from 5 am in efforts to secure polling stations. Police said they had shut down 92 polling stations as of 5 pm.
“I have got up early because my country needs me,” said Eulalia Espinal I Tarro, a 65-year-old pensioner, who started queuing with around 100 others outside one polling station, a Barcelona school, four hours before the scheduled start of voting.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen but we have to be here.”
But as independence supporters gathered, security forces did too, having been ordered to stop the vote from taking place.
In the pre-dawn darkness, a convoy of police vehicles left Barcelona port, bound for the city, as fears of confrontation rose.
Leading up to the referendum, Spanish police arrested Catalan officials, seized campaigning leaflets, sealed off some of the 2,300 schools designated as polling stations and occupied the Catalan government’s communications hub.
But regional leaders, backed by pro-independence supporters, refused to abandon their plans.
Farmers used tractors to guard polling stations in a number of towns.
In a sign of how the referendum has polarised Spain, thousands of pro-unity demonstrators have gathered in major cities, including the capital Madrid, this weekend to express their opposition to the northeastern region’s attempt to break away.
The Catalan government has said that if “yes” wins the referendum, it will unilaterally declare independence within two days.
With Reuters
More than 800 people were injured in clashes with police sent to prevent the poll, which the central government says is illegal.
Voters were asked to answer the question: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”
In a speech following the close of polls, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said there could be “no acceptance of this illegal referendum.”
“What the Spanish people saw today is that the rule of law remains strong in Spain and we remain strong against those who would counter our laws,” he said.
Rajoy added that he would call a special session of parliament tomorrow.
As of around 10pm, Catalonia’s health department said 844 people had required medical assistance a result of police violence.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Interior Ministry said 12 police officers were injured in clashes. Writing on Twitter, the ministry said personnel from Spain’s military law enforcement agency, Guardia Civil, had been subjected to “harassment and attacks”.
It confirmed that three people were arrested for disobeying security officers.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria gave a statement early Sunday afternoon, calling on the Catalonia government to stop the illegal and “senseless” referendum, and congratulating the security forces on the crackdown.
“Decisions that protect everybody’s rights have been followed. All the security forces have acted in a proportionate way… What they did was a democratic obligation,” she said.
Officers were seen smashing windows with axes to reach the ballot boxes and voting cards.
Clashes also broke out between officers from Guardia Civil and those from Catalonia’s local police force, Mossos.
Guardia Civil has accused Mossos of not obeying a court order to halt the referendum, while Mossos insists it had been doing so in a “proportional way”.
International figures including UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel and former European Parliament president Martin Schulz have condemned the violence.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement saying that even though Spain’s top court had ruled that the referendum should not go ahead, the state still had a duty to protect the rights to “peaceful assembly and free expression.”
“That applies equally to those who oppose independence and those who support it,” said HRW Western Europe Researcher Kartik Raj.
Minutes before Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was due to cast his ballot, law enforcement agents raided the polling station where he announced he would vote, in the province of Girona. However, Puigdemont was later seen successfully casting his vote in another polling station, located in the village of Cornella del Terri.
“I’ve voted in Cornella, very long queues. Their dignity contrasts with the police violence,” he tweeted.
Organisers had called on people to start voting from 5 am in efforts to secure polling stations. Police said they had shut down 92 polling stations as of 5 pm.
“I have got up early because my country needs me,” said Eulalia Espinal I Tarro, a 65-year-old pensioner, who started queuing with around 100 others outside one polling station, a Barcelona school, four hours before the scheduled start of voting.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen but we have to be here.”
But as independence supporters gathered, security forces did too, having been ordered to stop the vote from taking place.
In the pre-dawn darkness, a convoy of police vehicles left Barcelona port, bound for the city, as fears of confrontation rose.
Leading up to the referendum, Spanish police arrested Catalan officials, seized campaigning leaflets, sealed off some of the 2,300 schools designated as polling stations and occupied the Catalan government’s communications hub.
But regional leaders, backed by pro-independence supporters, refused to abandon their plans.
Farmers used tractors to guard polling stations in a number of towns.
In a sign of how the referendum has polarised Spain, thousands of pro-unity demonstrators have gathered in major cities, including the capital Madrid, this weekend to express their opposition to the northeastern region’s attempt to break away.
The Catalan government has said that if “yes” wins the referendum, it will unilaterally declare independence within two days.
With Reuters