Hundreds Injured as Spanish Police Clash with Defiant Voters in Catalonia
bySaphora Smith, Matt BradleyandTim Stelloh
BARCELONA, Spain — Hundreds of people were
injured when armed police descended on some polling stations in
Catalonia on Sunday as defiant voters tried to take part in a banned referendum on independence from Madrid.
The Catalonian government said late Monday
that about 90 percent of about 2.25 million voters backed independence.
That would represent a turnout of about 42 percent of registered voters.
But as regional health officials announced on
Sunday night that the number of people wounded had nearly doubled,
rising from more than 460 to over 760, conservative Spanish Prime
Minster Mariano Rajoy said there had been no referendum because "the
great majority of Catalans have decided not to participate."
"They have sided with our democracy and the
rule of law," Rajoy said during a news conference, adding: "Some have
tried to break the rule of law, and we have answered with serenity and
sanity."
More Than 800 Injured as Catalan Vote Turns Ugly1:09
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau called for Rajoy's
resignation and for the police to halt their violence "against a
defenseless population."
The leader of the regional government, Carles
Puigdemont, meanwhile, said, "Catalonia's citizens have earned the right
to have an independent state in the form of a republic." Photos: Hundreds Injured as Spanish Police Try to Block Catalan Referendum
"My government, in the next few days will send
the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the
sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with
the law of the referendum," he added.
Earlier, Spain's interior ministry said that
nine policemen and two civil guards had been injured. One civilian was
in a critical condition at a hospital in Lleida, a town in western
Catalonia, a spokesperson from the hospital confirmed.
Spanish police hold voters outside a polling station in Barcelona early Sunday. PAU BARRENA / AFP - Getty Images
In the region of Girona, Spanish officers
scuffled with angry voters before smashing their way into a school being
used as a polling station and seizing ballot boxes as voting began.
Armed police also clashed with voters outside some polling centers in Barcelona.
Rubber bullets were fired at protesters in the
center of the city, the Associated Press reported, with people showing
minor wounds to TV cameras.
The poll has no legal status, as it has been
blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court and Madrid for being at odds
with the 1978 constitution, but tens of thousands of voters were still
expected to take part.
Puigdemont said Spain had used "unjustified,
irrational and irresponsible violence," adding that it wouldn't stop
Catalans voting "peacefully and democratically."
He said batons and rubber bullets had been used against people who were protecting ballot papers and polling stations.
"Today Spain has lost even more that it had
lost until now and the citizens of Catalonia we've achieved even more
than we've had achieved till now," he said.
A man injured in clashes with Spanish armed police in Barcelona is escorted away by Catalan officers, Sunday.
Spanish deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de
Santamaria said Madrid intervened with "firmness and proportionality"
against the Catalan vote, adding that the regional government had
behaved with absolute irresponsibility in holding the referendum,
according to the Associated Press.
But Juho Romakkaniemi, a senior European Union
official, tweeted that while it was "clear" the Spanish government was
legally right about the Catalan referendum, "excessive actions may
endanger its legitimacy."
FC Barcelona — the city's top soccer club and a
cultural symbol for the region — were due to play against Las Palmas — a
team from Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of Africa — later on
Sunday, but announced that they would play only behind closed doors with
no crowd.
"FC Barcelona condemns the events which have
taken place in many parts of Catalonia today in order to prevent its
citizens from exercising heir democratic right to free expression," the club said in a statement posted to Twitter.
"Given the exceptional nature of events, the
Board of Directors have decided that the FC Barcelona first team game
against Las Palmas will be played behind closed doors following the
Professional Football League's refusal to postpone they game," it added.
The club tweeted updates throughout the game.
Las Palmas had earlier said in a statement
that they would play wearing Spanish flags on their jerseys because
"we're against this referendum that no one has agreed to and we believe
in the unity of Spain."
Spanish Guardia Civil guard smash the door of a polling station Catalonia's president was due to vote, early Sunday. LLUIS GENE / AFP - Getty Images
Spain's interior ministry posted a picture on
Twitter early Sunday of what it said were the first ballot boxes seized
by police. It also also posted video of officers carrying the boxes
through crowds. "The police, despite harassment, remove ballot boxes
from the illegal referendum at the Jaume Balmes institute in Barcelona,"
it said in a caption.
Crowds gathered outside Ramon Llull school, in
Barcelona's central Sagrada Familia district, to cast their vote early
Sunday but riot police arrived and scaled a fence to stop the process.
Around the corner at Els Llorers school, voting went ahead unhindered.
It was unclear why police were seemingly blocking voting at some schools but not others.
Shortly after 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET)
Turull said 96 percent of polling stations were still open. Many
supporters of the vote spent the night in polling booths in a bid to
keep them open. Related: Catalan Independence Referendum: What's Behind Divisive Spanish Vote?
He called on the international community to
recognize that Catalonia was witnessing "human rights violations" and
demanded the resignation of the Spanish government's representative in
the region.
"This violence is not proportional," Turull
added later at a press conference. He blamed Prime Minister Rajoy for
the violence, saying it would never have happened had he allowed the
vote to go ahead.
Meanwhile Raul Romeva, Catalonia's foreign affairs minister, said they would be asking Europe to look into the crackdown.
Earlier Sunday Puigdemont, the head of the
regional government, urged Catalans to follow their convictions.
"Everyone who wishes to vote can do so. Do what convinces you most: all
the options are just as legitimate. Let's do it with the usual
civility!" he posted on Twitter after casting his vote.
The region in northeastern Spain has a
population of 7.5 million and is one of the country's powerhouses,
accounting for around a fifth of Spain's economy.
It has a distinct language and culture, which
were suppressed under Franco, a conservative monarchist whose regime
dominated Spain for four decades.
Saphora Smith reported from London. Matt Bradley reported from Barcelona. Tim Stelloh reported from Alameda, California.
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