90% of Catalonia Voters Want Independence from Spain; Spanish Government Responds With Police Violence

Catalonia: 90% of voters said “yes” to independence from Spain, but the Spanish government used police to prevent hundreds of thousands from voting, to confiscate completed ballots, and to beat protestors. Spain’s Prime Minister announced that “no referendum” took place, claiming that the majority of Catalans did not participate in the vote after Madrid declared it was illegal.

Catalonia: 90% of voters said “yes” to independence from Spain.  Catalonia has 5.34 million voters; the Catalan government reported that out of the 2,262,424 ballots that were not seized, 2,020,144 were YES votes, 176,566 were NO votes, 45,586 were blank, and 20,129 were null votes.  The Spanish government’s massive police crackdown “prevented” an estimated 770,000 people from voting.  So far, 844 people have reported injuries from police brutality during the vote, and 74 have already filed official complaints.  Spain’s Prime Minister announced that “no referendum” took place in the country, claiming the majority of Catalans “obeyed the law” and did not want to participate in the independence vote after Madrid branded it illegal.

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Spain Sent 16,000 Riot Police to Barcelona Port to Prevent a Vote for Independence


In an effort to stop the October 1 referendum for the independence of Catalonia, Spain seized control of Catalonia’s finances, confiscated ballots and campaign materials, and arrested senior officials.  Polls say that 40% of Catalans support independence, but a majority support the referendum.  Spain has 16,000 riot police docked in the port at Barcelona ready to prevent the vote. The Catalan government says it will go ahead with the election. -GEG

Efforts by Madrid to stop a Catalonia independence vote, currently slated for October 1st, seem to be growing more hostile by the day.  Earlier this week Spanish police seized control of Catalonia’s finances, seeking to ensure that separatist politicians could not spend further public funds on the referendum, and conducted raids across Catalonia to confiscate ballots and campaign materials from printing shops and delivery companies.

Now, as the New York Times notes this morning, Spanish police have detained 14 people during operations conducted yesterday which included the secretary general of economic affairs, Josep Maria Jové.

The Spanish police detained more than a dozen people in the region of Catalonia on Wednesday, drastically escalating tensions between the national government and Catalan separatists. The episode occurred less than two weeks before a highly contentious referendum on independence that the government in Madrid has vowed to block.

The police raided the offices of the Catalan regional government early Wednesday and arrested at least 14 people, including Josep Maria Jové, secretary general of economic affairs. The arrests were not expected, but hundreds of mayors and other officials in Catalonia had been warned that they would be indicted if they helped organize a referendum in violation of Spanish law.

Hundreds of supporters of Catalan independence immediately took to the streets of Barcelona to protest the arrests. Jordi Sanchez, the leader of one of the region’s biggest separatist associations, used Twitter to urge Catalans to “resist peacefully,” but also to “come out and defend our institutions.”

According to Reuters, the increasingly hostile crackdown by the Spanish police has led Catalan leaders to acknowledge for the first time today that plans to hold a referendum on independence are now in doubt following the arrest of senior regional officials and the seizure of campaign material by national police.

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Spain Vows Catalonia Will Face ‘Brutal Impoverishment’ If It Leaves

Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economy and is roughly the size of Belgium, will hold an independence referendum on October 1, which Madrid and Spanish courts have declared illegal. The pro-secession movement says Catalonia pays $19 billion more in taxes to Madrid each year than it gets back in investments and services, but this would end if the region split from Spain.

Catalonia would suffer “brutal” impoverishment if it splits from Spain, with a deep plunge in its economic output, Spain’s economy minister warned Monday ahead of a disputed independence referendum in the region.

“The general impoverishment of the society would be brutal. GDP could fall between 25 and 30 percent and unemployment double,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in an interview with radio Cope.

An independent Catalonia would find itself outside of the eurozone so 75 percent of its products would be slapped with tarifs, banks would have to relocate, and the region would have to set up its own currency, he added.

“The independence of Catalonia would be absolutely irrational from an economic point of view,” the minister said.

Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economy and is roughly the size of Belgium, is slated to hold an independence referendum on October 1, which Madrid and Spanish courts have declared illegal.

The referendum has not had an impact on the economy because financial markets do not think Catalan independence is a “minimally viable and acceptable scenario”, the economy minister said.

Catalonia’s pro-secession regional government argues that an independent Catalonia would be able to decide its own fiscal policy and investments, which would boost its GDP.

It says Catalonia currently pays billions more in taxes to Madrid each year than it gets back in investments and services but this would end if the region split from Spain.

The Catalan government estimates it pays 16 billion euros ($19 billion) more to Madrid than it gets back, or about 8.0 percent of it the region’s GDP.

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