‘Here, we voted’: a referendum remembered

A year on, thousands of Catalans returned to the public buildings that were used as polling stations in the independence referendum to commemorate the vote and those who made it possible.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a major pro-independence group, placed more than 800 plaques in schools, health centers and other buildings all around Catalonia, which read "Here we voted, here we won".

Polling stations were instrumental in making the vote possible, which was deemed illegal by Spain. Pro-independence supporters organized themselves to keep voting places open despite police efforts to seal them off.

The Spanish police closed 319 polling stations and left 1,066 people injured.

The referendum went ahead despite Spain’s efforts to thwart it. More than 2.2 million people cast a ballot, accounting for 43% of those eligible to vote. The ‘yes’ to independence won with 90.1% of the votes.

The remembrance ceremonies on Monday gathered pro-independence activists who helped organize the vote and those injured during the police operation.

Politicians commemorate the vote

Catalonia's highest-ranking officials also attended remembrance ceremonies for the October 1 referendum.

Lafede.cat, a network encompassing more than a hundred Catalan NGOs, organized an event at a health center in Guinardó, Barcelona, that was used as a polling station a year ago.

Attendees include president Quim Torra, vice president Pere Aragonès, parliament speaker Roger Torrent, and the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau.