Catalonia referendum: 90% of voters back independence, Catalan officials say

The region's president says Catalonia has "won the right to become an independent state", but Madrid insists Spain will not split.

Monday 2 October 2017 03:51, UK

The vote went ahead despite a ruling made by Spain's constitutional court
Image: The vote went ahead despite a ruling made by Spain's constitutional court
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Preliminary results show that 90% of those who voted in Catalonia's independence referendum backed leaving Spain, Catalan officials say.

Catalonia's government said that of the 2.2m voters who were able to cast ballots in the banned referendum, two million voted for independence.

:: Catalonia referendum: The fight for independence explained

Regional president Carles Puigdemont said Catalonia had "won the right to become an independent state", adding he would keep to his vow to declare independence unilaterally if separatists win more than 50% of the vote.

However, Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy insisted that no independence referendum had occurred and that those who took part had been "fooled" into participating in a vote declared illegal by the country's constitutional court.

  1. Women clash with Spanish Guardia Civil guards
    Image: Voting in the banned referendum on Catalonian independence from Spain has been disrupted by riot police
  2. Spanish Guardia Civil guards brake the door of a polling station in Sarria de Ter
    Image: Officers descended on polling stations as voting started
  3. A demonstrator blocks a riot police van near a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona
    Image: A demonstrator blocks a riot police van near a polling station. Click through for more pictures
  4. A woman is grabbed by riot police near a a polling station
  5. A man shouts as officers force their way through a crowd
  6. A man holds a bunch of carnations in front of Spanish officers in San Julia de Ramis
  7. A man struggles with the police in Sany Julia de Ramis, near Girona
  8. A man dressed in the Catalonian flag confronts officers
  9. Protesters are dragged from the road by police in Barcelona
  10. Police take hold of a man and a child holding a red flower
  11. A dog wearing a Spanish flag takes a break at a demonstration in Madrid
  12. Farmers are blocking entrances to some polling stations to stop police taking them over
  13. n elderly man confronts an officer as police move in on the crowds
  14. A man faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station
  15. A elderly woman is helped as police move in on the crowds
  16. Crowds frantically move as police arrive outside to prevent the crowds from voting
  17. A woman celebrates outside a polling station after casting her vote in Barcelona
    Image: A woman celebrates outside a polling station after casting her vote in Barcelona
  18. A child sits on the shoulders of a person as police move in on the crowds
    Image: A child sits on the shoulders of a person as police move in on the crowds
  19. Police move in on the crowds
    Image: Police move in on the crowds
  20. Police
  21. A man clutches his head after police opened fire with rubber bullets

There were violent clashes as security forces dispatched by Madrid blocked polling stations and forcibly seized ballot boxes in an attempt to disrupt the vote.

Catalan officials claimed 844 people were injured, while Sky's Europe Correspondent Mark Stone said he had seen voters pulled out of polling stations by their hair and stamped on by police.

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Rubber bullets - illegal in Catalonia - were also used to disperse crowds, he added.

Challenged by Stone about the tactics used, Spain's foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said: "I don't agree with you that this is an extraordinary level of violence.

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Spanish foreign minister plays down scenes of violence

"You may think people were peacefully exercising their right to vote but the problem is this so-called referendum had been held to be illegal by the constitutional court."

During the clashes, riot police stormed a polling station near Girona, to the north of Barcelona, using a hammer to smash through a glass door of a school.

Mr Puigdemont had been due to appear at the polling station and was forced to cast his ballot in nearby Cornella del Terri instead.

In a televised address, Mr Rajoy thanked police for their clampdown on the vote and said they had acted with "firmness and serenity".

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Police use batons and rubber bullets on voters

Accusing separatists of attempting to "blackmail" Spain, the PM offered all-party talks on the region's future.

Meanwhile, unions and workers' associations have called for a general strike to be held across the region on Tuesday, urging Catalans to protest against a "grave violation of rights and freedoms".

Clashes between voters and police were condemned by UK politicians, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tweeted: "I urge @theresa_may to appeal directly to Rajoy to end police violence in Catalonia & find political solution to this constitutional crisis."

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But the British Foreign Office gave tentative backing to Madrid.

A spokesperson said: "The referendum is a matter for the Spanish government and people. We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld.

"Spain is a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us."

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