Catalan government insists raids will not stop vote

The public will get the chance to cast their votes on October 1, insists the Catalan government. Even after Spanish police raided 41 buildings on Wednesday and arrested 15 people, a cabinet spokesperson said that “the material and operational part, the logistics,” will be ready on October 1. Asking the public to trust the government, he said in an interview: “Faced with a siege, we are much more motivated to vote.”

Catalan government: “Faced with a siege, we are much more motivated to vote”

“There is a solution for every problem. We have time,” he said, adding: “We’re faced with a state that is sweeping away all guarantees, but the most important thing is that everyone knows where they have to vote, that they feel called upon to vote and that they go en masse to take part in the October 1 vote.”

While the spokesperson expressed little concern about the referendum, he did say he is worried about what he called the “atrocities” of the Spanish government.

Meanwhile, the Catalan vice president vowed that the cabinet will do its utmost to “make the October 1 vote possible under the best conditions. Yet, he also said that the Spanish police operation “has altered the rules of the game.” He also pointed out that the treatment of Catalan institutions is relevant to Spanish society: “Can anyone guarantee that what they are doing to us will not happen to them?” he asked.