Spain arrests
Spanish officials arrest regional leaders, seize ballots as crackdown escalates
MADRID — Thousands of people supporting a contested referendum to split Catalonia from Spain took to Barcelona’s streets Wednesday amid an intensifying government crackdown that included the arrests of a dozen regional officials and the seizure of 10 million ballot papers.
The arrests — the first involving Catalan officials since the campaign to hold an independence vote began in earnest in 2011 — prompted the regional government and some of its supporters to say that casting a ballot was as much about dignity as whether to break away from Spain.
Regional Catalan officials so far have vowed to ignore a Constitutional Court order to suspend the Oct. 1 referendum while judges assess its legality.
In a televised appearance Wednesday night, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned the officials of “greater harm” if they don’t drop the referendum bid, which he called a “totalitarian act.”
“If you care about the tranquility of most Catalans, give up this escalation of radicalism and disobedience,” the conservative leader said, addressing Catalan officials directly.
Catalan nationalists argue that self-determination is an inalienable right that can’t be curbed by any constitution.
Spanish Interior Ministry officials would not identify the arrested regional officials, saying the investigation was ongoing. The Catalan regional government confirmed that among them were Josep Maria Jove, secretary general of economic affairs, and Lluis Salvado, secretary of taxation.
The Catalonia branch of Spain’s High Court said Wednesday that about 20 people were being investigated over allegations of disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement related to the referendum. Police acting on a judge’s orders searched 42 premises, including six regional government offices, officials’ private offices and homes, as well as three companies in Barcelona, the court said in a statement.
The arrests risked stoking public anger in Catalonia, where pro-independence passions can run high. Several thousand independence supporters gathered outside government offices in Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital, to protest the raids. Some demonstrators sat down in the street to block police cars, while a few scuffled with police officers.
Later, protesters rejoiced when National Police officers left the headquarters of the anti-establishment Popular Unity Candidacy political party. The officers waited hours for a judge to sign off on a warrant to search the premises for referendum-related propaganda, but the permission never came.
Protests also occurred in other Catalan towns and in Spain’s capital, Madrid.
Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, blasted the police operations as “unlawful” and accused the national government of adopting a “totalitarian attitude.” He accused Madrid of creating a state of emergency in Catalonia and of effectively canceling the northeastern region’s self-rule.
His televised statement came as Spain’s Finance Ministry said it was imposing further controls over the Catalan government’s finances to ensure no public money is used for the referendum.
Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro’s order means that virtually all of Catalonia’s public spending will be handled in Madrid and that no credits could be requested for nonessential payments.
Catalonia represents onefifth of Spain’s $1.32 trillion economy and enjoys wide self-government authority, though key areas such as infrastructure and taxes are in the hands of central authorities. The region’s 7.5 million inhabitants overwhelmingly favor holding a referendum but are divided over independence.
As part of the crackdown, police confiscated nearly 10 million ballot papers, the Interior Ministry said. Polling station signs and documents for election officers were also seized during a raid on a warehouse in a small town outside Barcelona.