Attitude of voters was 'calm' on referendum day, says German politician

A German MP who was in Catalonia on October 1, 2017 and who witnessed the independence referendum said he was "impressed" by the "calm" attitude of people as Spanish police forcibly entered polling stations to prevent the vote.  

Speaking as a witness in the trial of Catalan independence leaders, Bernhard von Grünberg, at the time an MP for the Social Democratic Party, described the "determined discipline" of people who turned out to vote in the referendum that was declared illegal by Spanish courts.

"Despite threats,” said Von Grünberg, who was called as a witness at the request of indicted Òmnium Cultural leader Jordi Cuixart, “people went to vote, waited for many hours, were subject to intimidation, and didn’t resort to violence."