Catalonia’s regional government declared a landslide win for the “yes” side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into mayhem Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians trying to cast their ballots.
Catalonia has “won the right to become an independent state,” Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the “yes” side wins.
“Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,” Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote.
Catalan regional government spokesperson Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the “yes” side in favour of Catalonia’s independence. He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.
The region has 5.3 million registered voters, and Turull said the number of ballots didn’t include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote.
The response
In a televised address after the majority of polls closed Sunday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with “firmness and serenity” — comments sure to anger Catalans.
Deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria described the referendum as a “farce” and demanded it be called off.
It has been ruled unconstitutional by both the Madrid government and the courts, with judicial officials ordering police to seize millions of ballot papers, detain organisers and shut down websites promoting the vote.
Hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting, and amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Anguished, frightened screams could be heard
