Police take over polling stations in Catalonia

Spanish security forces began working yesterday to “neutralise” polling stations for a banned independence referendum in Catalonia as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sought international support in Washington.With five days to go until the October 1 vote, the clash between Catalonia’s pro-separatist government and Madrid was increasingly being played out in the arena of logistics and international opinion.Late on Monday, the chief prosecutor in Catalonia ordered regional police to identify those in charge of polling stations on Sunday, when the referendum is to be held.“The order has been conveyed and it will be executed will all normality,” a spokesman for Catalonia’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, told AFP.The position adopted by this police force, which enjoys a great deal of autonomy but must respect Spanish law, will be key to how the referendum will play out.To ensure they will co-operate, Spain’s interior minister this weekend put Catalonia’s regional police force under its supervision.By focusing on polling stations, prosecutors appear to have put in place a plan that targets all the logistics needed to stage the referendum, which has been deemed illegal by Madrid.Since mid-September they have threatened Catalan mayors who provide locations for the vote with criminal charges, as well as directors of schools and universities.The election commission has resigned after Spain’s Constitutional Court threatened to impose daily fines of €12,000 ($14,100).Police have seized nearly 10mn ballots for the vote and have closed down 59 websites that provide information about the referendum.Another 85 sites are in the process of being closed, judicial sources said.Faced with these actions, the separatist leaders of this wealthy northeastern region of Spain, home to around 7.5mn people, have accused Madrid of “repression”.The website of the foundation of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco “remains operational” but not the referendum websites, said Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull.The pro-separatist camp has been buoyed by editorials published in the Financial Times and several other foreign newspapers, including conservative ones, backing a legal referendum in Catalonia or calling for dialogue.A Spanish diplomatic source said the government was “aware of this claim that we are losing the battle of communication, but it is more difficult to tell the truth than to tell lies”.The central government argues that it is simply applying the constitution, which does not allow this type of referendum, just as in neighbouring France and Italy.Spain’s democratic constitution of 1978, which was approved by more than 90% of Catalan voters, gave wide autonomy to the regions but affirmed “the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation”.Madrid also claims that pro-separatist lawmakers rushed the law calling the referendum through the regional assembly by limiting the time allowed for the opposition to add amendments.The row over the referendum is not officially on the agenda of the talks between Rajoy and US President Donald Trump in Washington, but a gesture of support is nonetheless expected.As the date for the referendum nears, tensions are rising across Spain.In Huelva in the southwestern region of Andalusia, Guardia Civil officers dispatched to Catalonia for the referendum were cheered on by locals with cries of “Go for them!” and draped with Spanish flags.In Barcelona, residents have been giving out red carnations to regional police, a nod to Portugal’s 1974 revolution which toppled a military dictatorship, when people put red carnations in the barrels of soldiers’ guns.