Counting down to the October 1 Catalan referendum

Catalonia Refuses Spanish Demands to Halt Referendum

Officials Expect Millions to Turn Out Sunday

Anti-War,

30 Septeber, 2017

The regional government of Catalonia has reiterated today that they will absolutely not comply with the Spanish national government’s orders to abandon the Sunday referendum, saying that there is no legal basis for threatening to arrest those involved in the vote.

Spain has been desperately trying to undermine the vote in recent weeks, sending thousands of national police into Catalonia, threatening people with sedition changes, and raiding sites across the area trying to find ballot papers to seize.

Despite all of that, and in many ways because of that, voters seem more eager to cast ballots than ever. Mounting police threats are having no effect, and people are already queuing up at the polling stations days ahead of schedule.

Catalan officials are expecting a roughly 60% turnout Sunday, meaning in excess of 3 million voters will be at the polls. That appears to underscore the reality that several thousand police can’t really “stop” this vote.

Shootingat polling station in Catalonia, at least four people wounded

"First aid was provided to the victims, some of them turned out to be members of the Committee for the Protection of the Referendum," the report said.


Catalans Occupy Voting Stations to Preempt Police Crackdown
Voters Intend to Camp Out at Sites Until Sunday Referendum

Anti-War,
29 September, 2017



In an effort to preempt Spanish government efforts to block polling places for the Sunday referendum in Catalonia, voters are already out on force on Friday, occupying the voting stations, and forming lines around them.

Spanish police try to keep voters from the polls
The idea seems to be that police won’t be able to prevent the vote if people are already inside the moment voting is to begin. Many Catalan voters inside the stations intend to remain at the sites until the vote, camping out at those locations.



This is likely to provoke Spanish reactions ahead of the Sunday vote, with police now said to have been ordered to “clear” the voting stations and make sure no votes can be cast. It’s not clear yet if that’s going to mean physical raids of the sites, but it also doesn’t appear to have been ruled out.



Spanish officials continue to say there will be no referendum at all, while Catalonia’s regional officials predict the vote will be relatively orderly, irrespective of the Spanish government’s ongoing crackdowns.

GoogleRemoves Catalan Referendum App on Spanish Court Order

Judge: App a Continuation of Efforts to Defy Court Ban on Vote

29 September, 2017


Faced with a court order from the Spanish regional courts operating in Catalonia, Google has removed an application from Google Play entitled “On Votar 1-Oct,” a piece of software for smartphones publicize by Catalan First Minister Carles Puidgemont.


The software integrated Google Maps and GPS functions and was meant to allow Catalan voters to find their nearest polling stations during the October 1 referendum, and to share information related to such locations.


The judge in question accused the app of being a continuation of Catalan efforts to defy the court ban on the referendum. The ban intends to extend to all future voting software related to the Catalan referendum.


Google says it is their policy to remove software whenever they get a court order. In this case, however, it amounts to the Spanish national government trying to undermine an election carried out by regional authorities on a possible secession, which seems a grey area.


Indeed, Google’s policy could easily become a recurring problem in places with disputed legal jurisdictions. The question in this case is whether the Catalan regional government has jurisdiction over Catalonia, or does Spain’s national government, which opposes Catalan independence, but it could become a problem any number of other places in the world.

Spanish nationalist protesters give Nazi saluteduring rally against Catalonian independence (VIDEO)

Spanish nationalists protesting the upcoming Catalan referendum have given Nazi salutes during a rally in Spain's capital.

READ MORE: Catalonia pushes ahead with independence referendum

ome 100 nationalists took to the streets of Madrid Saturday, protesting the Catalan referendum scheduled for October 1, as well demanding the release of a group of their fellow far-right activists from a previous protest.


Some of the protesters have been openly demonstrating the notorious Nazi salute, while demanding that Spain remain a united state.


"They [Catalan independence supporters] want to destroy a millenary nation, and the important thing is the answer of the Spanish people,” one of the protesters told Ruptly.