Spain ready to send extra police to Catalonia

Spain will deploy police reinforcements to Catalonia if an independence referendum goes ahead, officials have said. The measure came amid rising tension between Spanish and Catalan authorities over the planned 1 October ballot.

Civil Guard police this week arrested around a dozen regional government officials and seized about ten million ballot papers.

Street protests against the measures grew ugly, with demonstrators vandalising two police cars, and a prosecutor asked Spain’s National Court to consider investigating demonstrators for sedition.

Authorities in the wealthy north-eastern region insist the vote will take place, even though Spain’s Constitutional Court has ordered it to be suspended and the Madrid-based national government insists it is illegal. An Interior Ministry statement said the extra police would provide backing for the Catalan regional police.