By Esteban Duarte and Rodrigo Orihuela
A man draped in a Catalan pro-independence flag casts his vote into the ballot box during the independence referendum at a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Nov. 9, 2014. Photographer: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg
Two million Catalans turned out to vote today in an independence ballot ruled illegal by Spain, as regional officials closed ranks to shield those organizing the disputed poll from punishment.
With polling stations across the region still open for another two hours, participation at 6 p.m. had already surpassed the 1.8 million who attended a pro-independence rally in Barcelona in September, the regional government said. Catalan President Artur Mas struck a note of defiance to the Spanish state after regional officials said their police force would not identify those working in polling stations, ignoring an order from Spain's state prosecutor.
"If they want to identify who is responsible for opening the schools, they can look at me," Mas told a news conference after casting his vote. "I'm responsible. My government and me."
The vote marks the highest point so far in a four-year resurgence of separatist sentiment. While the result, expected tonight, won't have any legal validity, Mas aims to use it to force Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy into negotiating a path to independence.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the turnout figures weren't valid because the vote lacks the proper checks and balances and Mas's attitude is not helpful for any potential dialogue.
The number of voters compares with a total of 2.53 million who voted in European elections in May out of an electorate of 5.49 million, according to Interior Ministry data.
Establishment Crisis
The ballot takes place as the Spanish political establishment faces its biggest crisis since the return of democracy 36 years ago. With unemployment at 24 percent, the second-highest in Europe after Greece, and corruption allegations eroding the government's moral authority, the anti-establishment Podemos party surged into the lead in two opinion polls in the past week.
Today's vote is another blow to Rajoy, who has insisted for months that the legal hurdles he has thrown up would prevent it.
"While I'm prime minister, nobody will break up Spain," Rajoy said in a speech to party activists in Caceres, western Spain, yesterday. "This isn't a referendum or a consultation or anything like it."
Rajoy's Appeal
Rajoy himself set in train the course of events leading to today's votes when he won an appeal to the Constitutional Court as opposition leader in 2010, rolling back powers that had been ceded to the Catalan government. Since then, support for independence has gone from being a fringe issue to commanding almost 50 percent support in the most recent polls.
Rajoy has made no comment on the vote today, and calls to the prosecutor's office went unanswered.
"I used to think Spain could be a country like Switzerland where multiple nationalities are protected," said Victor Acedo, a 38-year-old linguistics researcher, who traveled from Cambridge in England to vote today. "I realize now that's impossible."
Today, the Catalans' challenge to the central government's authority extended to the region's autonomous police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra. They were ordered last night by Spain's chief public prosecutor, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, to find out who was responsible for opening up the public buildings used for polling. The Mossos won't be identifying people overseeing the voting, said a spokesman for the Catalan government, who asked not to be named citing government policy.
Manning the Ballot
Mossos in Barcelona said their commanding officers had made no reference to the prosecutor's order in the morning briefing. A press officer for the regional police corps declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Spain has two nationwide police forces, the Guardia Civil and the National Police.
"The process is running itself," said Joan Ricard, a teacher at Sant Medir school in Barcelona where he was supervising voting as a volunteer. "I'm just the volunteer who is in charge of opening and closing the door." He declined to say who handed him the keys.
Outside the six-storey Pia School building in San Gervasi, where Mas voted, separatists gathered signatures on a petition asking the European Union to back their demands for an officially sanctioned referendum.
Inside, volunteers were registering voters at one table and supervising ballot boxes down a corridor. More than 40,000 volunteers have been enlisted to man ballot boxes in more than 900 towns across the region.
Mas was received by a minute-long round of applause when he came to cast his vote, chants of "President, president" in Catalan, and honking horns by about hundred bystanders.
A man draped in a Catalan pro-independence flag casts his vote into the ballot box during the independence referendum at a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Nov. 9, 2014. Photographer: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg
Two million Catalans turned out to vote today in an independence ballot ruled illegal by Spain, as regional officials closed ranks to shield those organizing the disputed poll from punishment.
With polling stations across the region still open for another two hours, participation at 6 p.m. had already surpassed the 1.8 million who attended a pro-independence rally in Barcelona in September, the regional government said. Catalan President Artur Mas struck a note of defiance to the Spanish state after regional officials said their police force would not identify those working in polling stations, ignoring an order from Spain's state prosecutor.
"If they want to identify who is responsible for opening the schools, they can look at me," Mas told a news conference after casting his vote. "I'm responsible. My government and me."
The vote marks the highest point so far in a four-year resurgence of separatist sentiment. While the result, expected tonight, won't have any legal validity, Mas aims to use it to force Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy into negotiating a path to independence.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the turnout figures weren't valid because the vote lacks the proper checks and balances and Mas's attitude is not helpful for any potential dialogue.
The number of voters compares with a total of 2.53 million who voted in European elections in May out of an electorate of 5.49 million, according to Interior Ministry data.
Establishment Crisis
The ballot takes place as the Spanish political establishment faces its biggest crisis since the return of democracy 36 years ago. With unemployment at 24 percent, the second-highest in Europe after Greece, and corruption allegations eroding the government's moral authority, the anti-establishment Podemos party surged into the lead in two opinion polls in the past week.
Today's vote is another blow to Rajoy, who has insisted for months that the legal hurdles he has thrown up would prevent it.
"While I'm prime minister, nobody will break up Spain," Rajoy said in a speech to party activists in Caceres, western Spain, yesterday. "This isn't a referendum or a consultation or anything like it."
Rajoy's Appeal
Rajoy himself set in train the course of events leading to today's votes when he won an appeal to the Constitutional Court as opposition leader in 2010, rolling back powers that had been ceded to the Catalan government. Since then, support for independence has gone from being a fringe issue to commanding almost 50 percent support in the most recent polls.
Rajoy has made no comment on the vote today, and calls to the prosecutor's office went unanswered.
"I used to think Spain could be a country like Switzerland where multiple nationalities are protected," said Victor Acedo, a 38-year-old linguistics researcher, who traveled from Cambridge in England to vote today. "I realize now that's impossible."
Today, the Catalans' challenge to the central government's authority extended to the region's autonomous police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra. They were ordered last night by Spain's chief public prosecutor, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, to find out who was responsible for opening up the public buildings used for polling. The Mossos won't be identifying people overseeing the voting, said a spokesman for the Catalan government, who asked not to be named citing government policy.
Manning the Ballot
Mossos in Barcelona said their commanding officers had made no reference to the prosecutor's order in the morning briefing. A press officer for the regional police corps declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Spain has two nationwide police forces, the Guardia Civil and the National Police.
"The process is running itself," said Joan Ricard, a teacher at Sant Medir school in Barcelona where he was supervising voting as a volunteer. "I'm just the volunteer who is in charge of opening and closing the door." He declined to say who handed him the keys.
Outside the six-storey Pia School building in San Gervasi, where Mas voted, separatists gathered signatures on a petition asking the European Union to back their demands for an officially sanctioned referendum.
Inside, volunteers were registering voters at one table and supervising ballot boxes down a corridor. More than 40,000 volunteers have been enlisted to man ballot boxes in more than 900 towns across the region.
Mas was received by a minute-long round of applause when he came to cast his vote, chants of "President, president" in Catalan, and honking horns by about hundred bystanders.
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