Events in Spain and Catalonia

700k protest Spain's referendum crackdown in Barcelona – local police 

RT

3 October, 2017

Up to 700,000 people have taken to the streets of Barcelona in the wake of Sunday’s controversial Catalonia independence referendum, municipal police announced. Huge crowds rallied Tuesday against the violent crackdown on voters by Spanish police.

Roads and traffic was blocked throughout the city on Tuesday, as protesters marched, chanting, “Independence!” and “The streets will always be ours!”

Some 700,000 people took to the streets, Barcelona municipal police announced on Twitter.

Thousands gathered outside the offices of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party (PP) in Barcelona and the Catalonia regional HQ of the national police as police stood guard. Protesters shouted slogans and waved the red-and-yellow Catalan flag, and groups of firemen played bagpipes outside the PP’s office as the crowd cheered them on.

RT’s Madina Kochenova and Anastasia Churkina dived into the rally at Barcelona’s central square, reporting live from the protest on Tuesday.

Youngsters and elderly people, families with small children were among a bustling crowd of jubilant demonstrators that filled the square in protest against the Spanish government’s crackdown.

“They are asking, they are shouting at national police forces to leave the region of Catalonia,” Kochenova reported from the protest in the afternoon.

As darkness fell, people showed no sign of calming down, Churkina reported.

“Looks like it’s going to continue through the evening through the guise of people not only protesting the policy brutality but also that Catalonia has seen during the referendum but also the general actions of Madrid,” the correspondent said.

A young female protester echoed the general mood as she told Churkina the actions of Madrid would not be tolerated by the locals anymore.

“We will not accept anything like this anymore. We’re heartbroken. We just wanted to use our right to vote. We think it’s not normal how the government behaved,” the protester said.

A protest strike was also called by major trade unions as government workers walked out and businesses and universities shut for the day. Metro stations were empty as services were drastically cut back, while the usually busy Boqueria market was deserted. Famous tourist attractions such as the Sagrada Familia church were also shut down.

Even FC Barcelona took part, canceling all its training sessions for the day. However, the main unions, the CCOO and UGT, avoided calling the walkout a general strike, instead called it a “temporary work stoppage” to get around laws that prohibit striking for political reasons.

The Spanish government has condemned the protests as an affront to the rule of law.

“I’ve seen how President Puigdemont has flooded the streets with his followers to stop people obeying the law and to make them disrespect justice,” said Rajoy’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. “We are here to defend the rights and liberties of all Spaniards that have been trampled upon by the regional government.”

The Spanish government and the country’s Constitutional Court have declared the Catalonia referendum illegal, and dispatched thousands of officers from the National Police and the Civil Guard to prevent the vote taking place. In the ensuring operation, nearly 900 people were wounded as officers deployed batons and rubber bullets to break up crowds of voters.

Despite this, millions of Catalans still turned up to cast their ballots. Of those who managed to vote, the Catalan authorities claim, 90 percent voted for independence. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has said he will take steps to start separating from Spain, and has appealed for international mediation with the central government

Spanish Showdown: Catalonia To Declare Independence "In Days" Puidgemont Says Despite King's Condemnation

Zero Hedge,

3 October, 2017

As reported previously, in a sternly worded address to the nation, Spain's King Felipe VI condemned organizers of Catalonia's independence referendum for having put themselves "outside the law" and said the situation in Spain was "extremely serious", calling for unity. In his address, King Felipe VI said Catalan leaders who organized the referendum showed their "disrespect to the powers of the state" adding that "they have broken the democratic principles of the rule of law.

"Today, the Catalan society is fractured," the king said, warning that the poll could put at risk the economy of the wealthy autonomous north-eastern region and the whole of Spain. He said that Catalonia’s authorities, “have placed themselves outside the law and democracy, they have tried to break the unity of Spain and national sovereignty”. Offering firm backing to the Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy, Felipe said it was the “responsibility of the legitimate powers of the state to ensure the constitutional order."

Felipe also said the Catalan government had “systematically violated the law, demonstrating a disloyalty that is inadmissible” and “undermined the harmony and coexistence in Catalan society”

But he stressed that Spain "will overcome difficult times".

The address came on the same day as Barcelona's roadways were blockaded amid a general strike as hundreds of thousands in Catalonia have been protesting over Spanish police violence during Sunday's vote, in which nearly 900 people were hurt.

However, despite the King's warning and hinting that a showdown, potentially violent, is coming, Catalan President Carles Puigdemonttold the BBC the region will declare independence in a matter of days. In his first interview since the referendum, Carles Puigdemont said his government would "act at the end of this week or the beginning of next".

When asked what he would do if the Spanish government were to intervene and take control of Catalonia's government, Puigdemont said it would be "an error which changes everything".

As Bloomberg reported earlier, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been fighting to maintain control after 2.3 million Catalans voted in Sunday’s makeshift referendum and the regional police force ignored orders to prevent the ballot. Preparing for launching the "nuclear option", Bloomberg added that Rajoy is mulling if, and when, to use Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to take direct control from the administration in Barcelona. This is the "error that would change everything" referred to by Puigdemont.

As a reminder, the Spanish government in Madrid has described the referendum as illegal. During the vote, 33 police officers were also injured, local medical officials said.

Meanwhile, as noted this morning, huge protest rallies have been taking place across Catalonia. In Barcelona alone, 700,000 people took to the streets, city police were quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. 

More than 50 roadblocks in the city caused big traffic jams. Barcelona's metro traffic was cut to a 25% service during rush hour and no trains at all at other times. Barcelona's port was at a standstill, trade union sources said. Top tourist attractions were also closed, including the city's famous Sagrada Familia church.

A roadblock on Gran Via in central Barcelona: The banner says "Occupation forces get out!"

Mercabarna - Barcelona's massive wholesale market - was left deserted as some 770 food businesses closed for the day. Many small businesses have shut for the day. Schools, universities and medical services were also closed or operating at a minimum level.

The strike was called in protest at "the grave violation of rights and freedoms" seen during Sunday's ballot. Some police officers were seen firing rubber bullets, storming into polling stations and pulling women by their hair.

Earlier on Tuesday, Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said: "We see how day after day the government of Catalonia is pushing the population to the abyss and inciting rebellion in the streets." He also warned that the central government would take "all measures necessary to stop acts of harassment".

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría condemned the "mafia" behavior of those protesters who had earlier gathered around hotels housing Spanish police officers and demanded that they leave.

It is unclear what Madrid's response will be if, or when, Catalonia follows through on its threat to declare independence. One option is for Madrid to challenge the declaration at the Constitutional Court, which will immediately rule against it. Next, if the Catalan government ignores the ruling, Madrid is likely to trigger article 155 of the Constitution to strip out Catalonia’s autonomy and to call for regional elections. This would be a risk-negatie scenario, and one which Citi said "could trigger a civil rebellion, with possible wide disruptions and violent confrontations. A move by the regional police force to ally with the pro-independence parties could significantly escalate the situation."

Spain's King Felipe Condemns Catalan "Disloyalty" As Rajoy Mulls "Nuclear Option"

EU belatedly condemns violence in Catalonia but calls vote illegal

Catalonia referendum: EU attacked by Nigel Farage after failing to condemn Spain violence

Spanish police used batons and rubber bullets against voters in Catalonia on Sunday in a bid to disrupt the banned referendum, with the government in Madrid refusing to accept the validity of the vote.

Barcelona metro stations were closed, pickets blocked main roads and civil servants walked out today after pro-independence groups called for a strike while the Spanish government refuse to acknowledge the referendum result, which was 90.1 per cent in favour of independence.

Now, Mr Farage has lambasted the EU for failing to condemn the violence in Spain despite pleas from officials in Catalonia, instead simply reiterating the Spanish government’s line that the referendum is not vlid.

The former Ukip leader believes the EU “is in worse shape now than at any point in its history” and declared that Sunday’s referendum in Catalonia reveals the divisions that are emerging in countries across the bloc.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Farage said: “The EU’s response to this anti-democratic act has been telling.The EU Commission simply repeated the Spanish line that the referendum was illegal.

“It didn’t even condemn the shocking violence which was beamed around the world on TV news programmes.“The vice president of the EU parliament, Ramon Luis Valcarcel of Spain's ruling People's Party, did commit to a position.He put out a tweet claiming the vote was a ‘coup against Europe’. 

“But then again perhaps his attitude – which most reasonable people would surely find extraordinary – is unsurprising given how closely the EU resembles the old Soviet Union: for the uninitiated, the EU has its own military police force – the European Gendarmerie Force – with 900 permanent personnel and a back-up of 2,300 officers on standby.

The commissars of yesteryear would surely approve. ”Mr Farage slammed EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Strasbourg today too, claiming ordinary European citizens would be “stunned” by the bloc’s refusal to act, especially given its proactive stance on defending human rights in other parts of the world.

Mr Farage said: “I think European citizens will be stunned that Mr Juncker comes here for his one appearance and there is absolutely no mention made of the dramatic events that have taken place inside a European Union member state, that is allegedly a modern democracy.“

One of the reasons that I always wanted Brexit was because I thought the system of law making whereby the Commission has the sole right to initiate legislation was something that would in fact damage, and in the end destroy, any concept of national democracy.

“And yeah, I’ve called the European Union undemocratic, I’ve called it anti-democratic, but never, ever in my fiercest criticisms here did I think we would see the police of a member state of the union injuring 900 people in an attempt to stop them going out to vote." 

He added: “Whether or not it was legal nationally for people in Catalonia to have a vote, surely people are allowed to express an opinion.We saw women being dragged out of polling stations by their hair, old ladies with gashes in their forehead.

“The most extraordinary display and what do we get from Mr Juncker today? Not a dickie-bird.In fact previously we had that the rule of law must be maintained and I think it is quite extraordinary to realise that this union is prepared to turn a blind eye.