Madrid to blame

No moral high ground can be used to justify the use of violence by the Spanish Police against peaceful senior citizens exercising their democratic right to vote in last year’s Catalan referendum (Keith Howell, Letters, 4 April).

Under the flawed Spanish constitution, it is impossible for Catalonia to hold a referendum on self-determination despite a majority of Catalan MPS supporting some form of independence and subsequently being re-elected after Mariano Rajoy suspended the regional government, thus forcing a further election. that is why independence supporters have to resort to peaceful protests as normal democratic rights have been trampled on.

The Spanish judicial system is very politicised as no police officer has been brought to account following TV evidence of violence. There is also the questionable use of the European Arrest Warrant to hound political opponents of the right-wing PP government which was founded by one of Franco’s ministers.

The blame lies firmly with the Madrid government, which has misjudged the situation by failing to allow a referendum when there was no obvious majority for independence. It now risks losing Catalonia by as a result of its heavy-handed actions.

What rings hollow is that other than a few Labour MEPS, not one Labour or Tory MP or MSP has condemned the actions of the Spanish government when they should be standing up for democracy and basic human rights.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh