Spain to probe some 700 mayors over independence vote

SPAIN’S state prosecutor office said more than 700 Catalan mayors will be investigated for cooperating with a referendum on independence that has been suspended by a court, and has ordered police to arrest them if they don’t comply.

The pro-independence coalition ruling Catalonia has vowed to hold the vote despite the prohibition and has asked the 947 mayors in the northeastern region to provide facilities for the plebiscite.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government has pledged to stop the referendum and was granted a suspension by the Constitutional Court while judges decide on its legality.

The country’s top prosecutor, Jose Manuel Maza, ordered provincial prosecutors to investigate 712 mayors who have already offered municipal facilities for the Oct. 1 vote and the regional Catalan police to arrest them if they don’t show up for testimony.

Hostility between Madrid and Barcelona has ramped up since Spain’s Constitutional Court last Thursday suspended the referendum, planned for Oct. 1, following a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The Madrid government says the referendum contravenes the constitution, which states that Spain is indivisible.

Under Article 155 of Spain’s constitution, Madrid has the power to intervene directly in the running of Catalonia’s regional government, forcing it to drop the vote. This could involve sending in the police or suspending the regional government’s authority to rule.

In February, the Constitutional Court ruled against the referendum and warned Catalan leaders they faced repercussions if they continued with their project.

In 2014, Catalonia held a non-binding vote under then President Artur Mas, in which more than 80 percent of those who cast a ballot chose independence, although just 2.3 million out of 6.3 million eligible voters took part. But in holding the symbolic referendum, Mas went against Spain’s Constitutional Court, which had outlawed the vote, even if it was non-binding. He was later put on trial and banned from holding office for two years.

At the height of pro-independence fervor in 2012, during a deep economic recession in Spain, around one million people took to the streets waving the Catalan flag and singing the Catalan anthem. Polls have shown support for independence waning since then, and those wanting a separate state are in a minority. However, a majority of Catalans want to hold a referendum on the issue.

The Catalonia region centered on Barcelona generates a fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product. It self-governs in several important areas, such as police, health and education. But key areas such as taxes, foreign affairs and most infrastructures are in the hands of the Spanish government. Both Catalan and Spanish are spoken in the region of 7.5 million people, and many Catalans feel strongly about their cultural heritage and traditions.