Torra criticizes Spain for sending police for Catalonia's National Day

Quim Torra has spoken out against Spain's decision to deploy Spanish police in Catalonia in the run up to its National Day, La Diada, when a large pro-independence demonstration is set to take place.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new underground line in Barcelona, Torra stated that it is "not necessary" for the Spanish government to send "so many riot police." What is needed, he added, are "more kilometres in infrastructures, transport and mobility."

On Wednesday, Spain's interior ministry announced that it would send around 500 police officers to Catalonia for the September 11 celebrations of the country's national day, less than a month away from the first anniversary of last year's October 1 independence referendum.

No need to be "alarmed"

The Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said people should not be "alarmed" by the operation, and pointed out that around 2,000 officers are mobilized whenever there is a big football match.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets calling for the independence of Catalonia. By last week, 200,000 people had already signed up to take part.

In last year's demonstration, around one million people took part in the demonstration in favour of Catalan independence, according to police figures.

A year on

Last September, Spain's former government sent up to 6,000 police officers to Catalonia in order to prevent the vote on independence from taking place.

The operation cost 87 million euros, and more than 1,000 people were injured at polling places due to Spanish police violence, which sparked outrage in the pro-independence bloc.