Catalonia’s Independence Vote Descends Into Chaos and Clashes

Catalonia’s Independence Vote Descends Into Chaos and Clashes
“We have acted with the law and only with the law and we have shown
that our democratic state has resources to defend itself against such a serious attack.”
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, Spain’s deputy prime minister, praised the Spanish police
for blocking a vote that “couldn’t be celebrated and wasn’t celebrated.”
She told a news conference that the Catalan government had acted “with absolute irresponsibility,
which had to be overcome by the professionalism of the security forces.”
After the extent of the crackdown became apparent, Ada Colau, the left-wing mayor of Barcelona,
called on Mr. Rajoy to resign over his “cowardly” and unjustified police intervention.
After watching the police intervene, he said that the “police have nothing to do with the democratic process — they shouldn’t be here.”
Hundreds of people were hurt as the Spanish police closed polling stations and seized ballot boxes during Catalonia’s independence vote on Sunday.
“You simply can’t use violence against people who just want to vote.”
Despite the police threat, Mr. Pulpillo, who uses a wheelchair, said he went to vote “to make sure this was
our feast of democracy, not our humiliation at the hands of a Spanish state that believes in repression.”
Voters like him made the turnout an extraordinary show of determination in the face of a steady drumbeat of threats from Madrid.