Spanish police violence at polling stations leaves 337 injured

Hundreds of people have been injured in clashes with Spanish national and Guardia Civil police aiming to prevent the independence referendum from taking place. By mid-afternoon the toll of the injured had risen to 337 people, as police arrived at public places used as polling stations to seize ballot papers and boxes, and thus prevent the public from voting. The Spanish ministry of home affairs said that 11 police officers had been injured.

Already by 11am the Catalan health department reported that it had treated 38 people injured in clashes with police. While most of the injuries were light, it later became known that at least one person had been seriously injured in the eye by a rubber bullet. He later underwent surgery in a Barcelona hospital. In a lunchtime appearance, government spokesman, Jordi Turull, pointed out that the Catalan parliament had “banned the use of rubber bullets in Catalonia.” Later in the day, a man in Lleida was also seriously injured and required emergency medical treatment before being taken to hospital.

Spanish police began the operation to prevent the referendum from taking place around 9am, when people first began arriving to cast their votes. At polling stations all over Catalonia officers seized election material, such as ballot papers and boxes, in some cases using violent means to enter the premises. Outside some polling stations police charged members of the public and fired rubber bullets into crowds in, notably, Barcelona, Sabadell, Sant Julià de Ramis, Girona, Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Sant Cebrià de Vallalta and Lleida.

“Irresponsible use of violence,” says president

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was at first prevented from voting in Girona. Footage showed riot police smashing the glass doors of the sports centre used as a polling station and forcibly removing people. Puigdemont later cast his vote in another polling station, in nearby town. Puigdemont called the police violence “shameful” and praised the public commitment to vote: “It is obvious that the irrational and irresponsible use of violence by the Spanish state has not stopped the desire of the Catalans to vote democratically and peacefully,” he said.

However, the Spanish government’s delegate to Catalonia, Enric Millo, blamed the actions of the Spanish police on the Catalan authorities: “The Catalan government has brought us to a place we did not want to be,” he said. In fact, later in the day, Catalan government spokesman Turull called on Millo to resign and thereby take responsibility for what he described as “state violence” and “repression that is reminiscent of the Franco era.”

Police action to be referred to EU

Meanwhile, Catalan foreign affairs minister, Raül Romeva, said that his government were preparing to refer the behaviour of the state security forces to the European courts. The Catalan government has already contacted the European Parliament, the European Commission and EU member states, urging them to take action against the Spanish authorities. “The actions of the State is putting at risk the image of the EU as a guarantee of human rights,” said Romeva, who described the actions of the Spanish security forces as “criminal”.