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Violent Clashes during Catalan Referendum

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Lana Reverse:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/world/europe/catalonia-independence-referendum.html?mcubz=3


--- Quote ---BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s defiant attempt to stage an independence referendum descended into chaos on Sunday, with hundreds injured in clashes with police in one of the most serious tests of Spain’s democracy since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s.

National police officers in riot gear deployed in thick phalanxes as they fanned out across Catalonia, the restive northeastern region of Spain, to shut down polling stations and seize ballot boxes.

Over the course of the day, the referendum took on an almost surreal cast. The voting went ahead in many towns and cities, with men and women, young and old, singing and chanting as they lined up for hours to cast ballots, even as confrontations with the police turned violent elsewhere.

The police, sent by the central government in Madrid from other parts of Spain, used rubber bullets and truncheons in some places. The clashes quickly spoiled what had been a festive, if expectant, atmosphere among voters, many of whom had camped inside polling stations to ensure that they would remain open.
--- End quote ---

¡Ay, caramba!

ironbite:
Yeah if anyone wants to see fascism in action, look no further then Spain.

Ironbite-this will not end well.

Art Vandelay:
Spain really really really does not want to lose their most (I think) productive and profitable region. Especially now when their economy is in the shit heap.

Tolpuddle Martyr:
Catalonia is essentially Spain's Northern Ireland.

dpareja:

--- Quote from: Tolpuddle Martyr on October 01, 2017, 10:14:48 pm ---Catalonia is essentially Spain's Northern Ireland.

--- End quote ---

Except without a body of water separating them and without a country right next door that they'd probably join should they gain independence.

But anyway, WTF Spain? The courts said that the referendum had no legal status, so where's the fucking harm in letting them vote? Seriously, this looks way worse than letting them vote and then ignoring the result--especially if, as a lot of people expected, the vote was boycotted by those opposed to Catalan independence.

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