Spain's paramilitary national police, the Guardia Civil, have stormed Catalan regional government buildings on orders from prime minister Mariano Rajoy (pictured) who wants to stop an independence referendum on October 1st.
Guardia Civil officers were ordered to search for documents linked to the banned independence referendum and seized 10 million ballot papers, ballot boxes, posters and leaflets found as they searched 42 premises and made arrests for alleged disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement related to the controversial referendum.
Madrid considers any referendum vote to be illegal but the pro-independence movement plans to hold the one, regardless.
Mariano Rajoy explained to parliament on Wednesday that, “The government is doing what it has to do . ..and we will keep doing that until the very end.”
The PM added, “This is a judicial operation which is being done to guarantee . . . that the law is respected.”
Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, described the raids as a “co-ordinated police assault” and a “de facto state of emergency.”
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, September 20th, heavily armed police arrived at various Catalan ministries, including economy, foreign affairs, and social affairs departments.
At least twelve Catalan officials have been arrested, including the chief aide to Catalonia’s deputy prime minister, Josep Maria Jové. The arrests come as the mayors of Catalan towns backing the referendum yesterday were questioned by state prosecutors.
Pro ‘local democracy’ crowds formed outside the regional ministries to protest against the raids and give support to their regional government, the majority gathering outside the regional economy ministry in the centre of Barcelona’s tourist district.
In Madrid, Spain’s parliament rejected a motion to support the government’s over-the-top actions to stop the referendum at all costs.
After news of the police action hit the media on Wednesday morning, political rallies in support of independence were cancelled.
“It is unacceptable for there to be political prisoners in a European democracy. The Partido Popular leads us back an authoritarian regime, this cannot be tolerated,” a spokesperson for Podemos said on social media.
Speaking after an emergency ministerial meeting, Puigdemont vowed the independence referendum would go ahead and added that, “We reaffirm our peaceful response. The Spanish government has crossed a red line and has become a democratic disgrace.”
The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, Tweeted, “Searching public buildings and arresting officials for political reasons is a democratic scandal. We defend these Catalan institutions.”
Rajoy’s tactics have done nothing but increase support for Catalan independence, much of which is based on the avarice of Madrid which is alleged to hang on to between €11 billion and €15 billion of the balance of tax receipts from the Catalan region.
