Catalonians vote for split with Spain

THE CATALAN referendum – in which 844 people were injured in violent clashes – saw 90 per cent of voters backing a break with Spain.

Two million people voted “yes” in the ballot, which was banned by Spain, to the question, “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”, government officials said yesterday. About 200,000 voted against on Sunday.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said the result meant the north-east region had won the right to be an independent state. But Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy disagreed, saying Catalonians were “fooled” into taking part in a vote deemed illegal by Madrid’s constitutional court.

Mr Rajoy thanked police for their clampdown on the vote and said they acted with “firmness and serenity”.

There were clashes on Sunday as security forces blocked polling stations and seized ballot boxes.

Riot police fired rubber bullets into crowds and beat people with batons as they queued to vote. Some were allegedly stamped on.

Catalan officials claimed 844 people were hurt. Unions and workers’ groups called for a strike across the region today to protest against a “grave violation of rights and freedoms”.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who sits on the foreign affairs select committee, accused the Spanish government of trying to “bully the people”. He said the violence “shows both Spain and the EU in a very bad light”.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said: “The referendum is a matter for the Spanish government and people.

“We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld.”