Spanish delegate in Catalonia during referendum testifies in independence trial

The Spanish government's delegate in Catalonia during the political crisis in 2017 took the stand in Spain’s Supreme Court on Tuesday morning to give his testimony as a witness in the trial of independence leaders.

Enric Millo, who served as delegate under the presidency of the conservative Mariano Rajoy, defended the police operation to stop the referendum as "restrained, proportionate, and exemplary."

Millo later apologized for the police charges, which left hundreds injured, but blamed the Catalan government for going ahead with a vote on independence despite the Spanish courts declaring it illegal.

The testimony of the former delegate comes in week 4 of the Catalan trial, when the efforts by the Spanish police to stop the referendum are set to be in the spotlight, after Rajoy and his ministers denied any role in the operation.

Millo was meant to have spoken in court on Monday morning, but the session was delayed by the long testimony of the former Spanish secretary of state for security, José Antonio Nieto. He claimed that the force used by the Spanish police on October 1 “was the minimum required," and accused the Catalan police of not doing enough to follow court orders and stop the vote.