Thousands of Catalan students rally to defend right to independence vote
BARCELONA: Thousands of striking high school and university students rallied in Barcelona Thursday to defend Catalonia’s right to hold an independence referendum which Madrid has vowed to stop.
“We will vote!” and “Independence!” they chanted as they marched along the Gran Via, one of Barcelona’s main avenues, blocking traffic. Many were draped in red and yellow Catalan independence flags.
Barcelona police said 16,000 people took part. Organisers put the figure five times higher at 80,000.
The Catalan government has insisted it will press ahead with Sunday’s plebiscite in the wealthy northeastern region which is home to 7.5 million people, despite a crackdown by Madrid which wants to prevent a vote ruled unconstitutional by the courts.
The showdown is one of Spain’s biggest political crises since the end of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco four decades ago and it had deeply divided Catalonia.
Opinion polls show Catalans are split on the issue of independence, but a large majority want to vote in a legitimate referendum to settle the matter.
“The majority of young people are separatists, and if they weren’t, they have become separatist after seeing what Spain has done in recent weeks,” 16-year- old high school student Aina Gonzalez told AFP.
Over the past few days, judges and prosecutors have ordered the seizure of electoral material including millions of ballot papers, the closure of websites linked to the vote and the detention of key members of the team organising the referendum.
The electoral board set up to oversee the vote has been dissolved, and on Wednesday a judge ordered police to prevent public buildings from being used as polling stations.
The crackdown continued Thursday as police seized more than six million ballots and envelopes and 100 ballot boxes at a warehouse in Igualada, a town near Barcelona, a police source said.
It is the first time ballot boxes have been confiscated though it is unclear if they were destined for the referendum, as the company alleges they were for internal elections at the FC Barcelona football club.
Some students have said they may occupy schools and universities that could be used as polling stations, which firefighters and farmers have vowed to protect. — AFP