President Puigdemont: “Prohibiting a vote degrades democracy and divides the people”

No matter if Spain’s Guardia Civil raids a weekly newspaper and a printing firm. No matter if the Constitutional Court has suspended the referendum. No matter if the prosecution office presses criminal charges against all Catalan government members. No matter if the Spanish cabinet has pledged that the referendum will not take place and has repeatedly warned anyone taking steps towards the vote that they might have legal problems.

No matter the odds, the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, said in an annual statement on the eve of Catalonia's National Day that everything is ready for holding the referendum. However, he also had words for all the Spanish obstacles. “Ballot boxes do not divide, because everyone fits in the ballot boxes. Not allowing a vote is what degrades democracy and divides the people,” he added.

“The vote is for everyone”

According to him, the vote “is for everyone, for both those who are in favor of an independent Catalonia and for those who legitimately want to continue being part of Spain.”