Violence mars Catalonia vote
SPAIN: Catalonia’s defiant bid to hold a referendum on independence from Spain degenerated into ugly scenes of mayhem yesterday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots in a show of force the regional president decried as another ‘‘shameful page’' in the Spanish government’s history with the region.
Speaking in Barcelona after polls closed, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the ‘‘yes’' side wins the disputed vote, adding: ‘‘Catalonia has won the right to become an independent state.’'
Hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting, and amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Anguished, frightened screams could be heard.
Police were acting on a judge’s orders to stop the referendum, which the Spanish government had declared illegal and unconstitutional – and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said going forward with the vote only served to sow divisions.
In a televised address after the majority of polls closed, he thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with firmness and ‘‘serenity’' – comments sure to anger Catalans.
Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while ‘‘unfortunate’' and ‘‘unpleasant’' was ‘‘proportionate’'.
No-one knows what will happen if Catalan officials use the vote – chaotic as it was – as a basis for declaring the northeastern region independent, a provocative move that would threaten Spain with the possible loss of one of its most prosperous regions, including the popular coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital.
Catalans favouring a break with Spain have long wanted more than the limited autonomy they now enjoy, arguing that they contribute far more than they receive from the central government, which controls key areas including taxes and infrastructure.
The police aggression was likely to only fuel the passion for independence, and the main separatist group urged the regional government to declare independence after the violent crackdown.
‘‘Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,’' Puigdemont said, adding that he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote.
‘‘Spain has become the shame of Europe’' with its iron-fist tactics, said Jordi Turull, spokesman for the Catalan regional government.
By day’s end, Catalan health services said 844 civilians had been treated in hospitals for injuries, including two in serious condition and another person who was being treated for an eye injury that fit the profile of having been hit by a rubber bullet. Thirty-three police officers were also injured.
Officials planning the police operation may have failed to take into account the ubiquitous use of smart phones with video recorders as violent images were broadcast across the world.
At the Pau Claris School in Barcelona, amateur footage from one voter showed police roughing up unarmed people standing in their way.
Amateur video from other locations showed similar tactics, with people seen being hit, kicked and thrown around by police, including elderly people with their dogs, young girls and regular citizens of all stripes.
Many tried to shield themselves from being smacked on the head.
There were also some signs of provocation by activists. In footage released by the Spanish Interior Ministry, some protesters were seen throwing objects and metal barriers at riot police.
Elisa Arouca, who was waiting to vote outside the Estel school in central Barcelona, reacted with anger when national police agents yanked her and other prospective voters out of the way, then smashed the door open and confiscated the ballot boxes.
She had been planning to vote in favour of keeping Catalonia part of Spain, but decided instead to join the march for independence. She moved to another polling station to try to cast her vote in favour of breaking away.
‘‘I was always against independence, but what the Spanish state is doing is making me change my mind,’' she said. ‘‘The national police and civil guard are treating us like criminals.’'
A member of the Israeli parliament, sent in as an observer of the vote, said she was shocked by the use of rubber bullets against crowds of unarmed voters.
’’We did expect a normal democratic process,’' said Ksenia Svetlova, part of a delegation of 33 people invited by Catalan officials to observe the voting process.
‘‘We knew that a lot of police were here but still, you know, there should be a respect for the will of the people to vote regardless of what you think of the referendum.’'
Tensions were running so high that Barcelona played its football game against Las Palmas without fans after the team announced the match would be played behind closed doors shortly before kickoff, with thousands of fans already outside the stadium. Barcelona wanted to postpone the game but said the Spanish league refused.
Manuel Condeminas, who tried to block police from driving away with ballot boxes, said police had kicked him and others before using batons and firing the rubber bullets.
The results of the referendum showed landslide support for independence for the restive but affluent area, a lopsided vote sure to be vigorously challenged by the constitutional court and central government in Madrid as illegitimate and illegal. According to the Catalan government, 90 per cent of the ballots cast were for independence - with 2,020,144 voting yes and 176,566 no. – AP