Catalonia independence referendum: What just happened?
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Catalonia Independence Referendum Vote
BARCELONA, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 28: Students get caught in an air vent as they gather to demonstrate against the position of the Spanish government to ban the self-determination referendum of Catalonia during a strike by university students on September 28, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. The Catalan government is keeping with its plan to hold a referendum, due to take place on October 1, which has been deemed illegal by the Spanish government in Madrid. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 09: Sergio Garcia of Spain celebrates during the Green Jacket ceremony after he won in a playoff during the final round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 9, 2017 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
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Catalan President Carles Puigdemont speaks during a statement at the Palau Generalitat in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Catalonia's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, is addressing regional lawmakers on Monday to review a referendum won by supporters of independence from Spain on Oct. 1. (Jordi Bedmar/Presidency Press Service, Pool Photo via AP)
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More than 2.25 million people turned out to Sunday’s referendum across Catalonia, a region in the northeast of Spain. The regional government said 90% of voters were in favor of a split from Madrid.
But the turnout was low – around 42% of the voter roll. Catalan authorities blamed the figure on the crackdown on the vote initiated by the national government.
Spain’s highest court had ruled the vote illegal under the Spanish constitution. Citing the judicial authority, Madrid flooded Catalonia with thousands of national police in advance of the vote. Officers seized millions of ballot papers and sealed schools and other buildings to be used as polling stations.
On Sunday, the day of the disputed vote, national police launched a concerted effort to prevent people from casting their ballots. Police fired rubber bullets at protesters and voters trying to take part in the referendum, and used batons to beat them back.
People help a man injured by a rubber bullet fired by Spanish police officers outside the Ramon Llull polling station in Barcelona.
FABIO BUCCIARELLI/AFP/Getty Images
Police smashed their way into polling stations, and were seen pulling voters out by the hair and restraining elderly people.
The scenes shocked Catalans and reverberated around Europe.
Almost 900 people were injured, Catalan officials said. Opposition parties criticized Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for taking a heavy-handed approach to blocking the vote.
Why did it happen?
The long-running dispute goes back to the brutal years under Franco, whose dictatorial regime repressed Catalonia’s earlier limited autonomy. In 1979, four years after his death, the region was granted greater autonomy.
In 2006, the Spanish government backed Catalonia’s calls for even greater powers and financial control of the region, granting it “nation” status.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Protesters march through Barcelona during a demonstration to support the unity of Spain on October 8. A bitterly contested independence referendum on October 1 has stoked fierce divisions in the northeastern region of Catalonia and across Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Riccardo Dodich
Thousands of people gather in Barcelona to rally for unity in Spain on October 8.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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Protesters hold Spanish flags during a demonstration against independence for Catalonia on October 8.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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Demonstrators urge a peaceful dialogue to resolve the crisis over Catalan independence on Saturday, October 7, in Madrid, Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Crowds raise their hands during a demonstration October 7 in Barcelona encouraging talks to ease tensions over independence. Catalan nationalists argue the region is a separate nation with its own history, culture and language. But many Catalans also oppose separatism from Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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People show their hands painted in white during a demonstration urging dialogue on October 7 in Madrid. Neither the Catalan regional government nor the national government in Madrid has been willing to give ground since the referendum.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A woman wears a sticker with the Spanish word for "peace" at a demonstration in Madrid on October 7.
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Protesters with Spanish flags gather to demonstrate against independence for Catalonia in Madrid on October 7.
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People attend a protest in Barcelona on Monday, October 2, a day after hundreds were injured in a police crackdown during the banned referendum. The Catalan government claimed victory after pushing forward with the vote despite Spain's Constitutional Court declaring it illegal.
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Manu Fernandez/AP
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont greets regional government workers before a meeting at the Palace of the Generalitat in Barcelona on October 2.
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Independence supporters gather in Barcelona after Catalonia's separatist government held a referendum to decide if the region should split from Spain on Sunday, October 1.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A member of the Catalan National Assembly cries at the end of the voting day on October 1.
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Felipe Dana/AP
Spanish riot police remove fences thrown at them as they try to prevent people from voting in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, October 1.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Pro-referendum supporters clash with members of the Spanish National Police after police tried to enter a polling station to retrieve ballot boxes.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Pro-referendum supporters lock a gate to a polling station as members of the Spanish National Police arrive to control the area during voting at the Escola Industrial of Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Manu Fernandez/AP
Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona.
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Alvaro Barrientos/AP
Pro-independence supporters cover a mock ballot box with Estelada Catalan flags in Pamplona, northern Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Manu Fernandez/AP
Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona.
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People play games in a square where a giant pro-independence Estelada Catalan flag is displayed.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A woman celebrates after voting at a polling station in Barcelona on October 1.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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People help a man injured by a rubber bullet fired by Spanish police officers outside the Ramon Llull polling station in Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Pro-referendum supporters embrace as Spanish National Police try to remove them from the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona.
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Santi Palacios/AP
People queue to vote at a school in Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Spanish riot police shoot rubber bullets at people trying to reach a voting site designated by the Catalan government in Barcelona. The deputy mayor of Barcelona said police fired rubber bullets at people as they attempted to vote in the referendum, which Spain's top court has declared illegal. There were reports that police in Girona, Spain, used batons.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A protestor shouts as he holds a Catalan flag during a demonstration called by far-right groups in Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, center, arrives to inspect a sports hall as police interve in Girona, Spain. Puigdemont condemned "indiscriminate aggression" against peaceful voters.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Manu Fernandez/AP
A Spanish riot police officer swings a club against would-be voters near a school assigned to be a polling station by the Catalan government in Barcelona.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Geraldine Hope Ghelli/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Riot police drag a member of the public away from a school being used as a polling station. Regional authorities said 337 people were injured after Madrid deployed the national police force to close down polling stations. Catalan emergency services confirmed the number to CNN.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Emilio Morenatti/AP
People clash with Spanish National Police outside the Ramon Llull school, designated as a polling station by the Catalan government in Barcelona, Spain, early Sunday, October 1. Catalan pro-referendum supporters vowed to ignore a police ultimatum to leave the schools they are occupying to use in a vote seeking independence from Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Francisco Seco/AP
People try to offer flowers to a civil guard at the entrance of a sports center, assigned to be a referendum polling station by the Catalan government in Sant Julia de Ramis, near Girona, Spain, October 1.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
People attend a demonstration against a referendum on independence for Catalonia on October 1 in Madrid, Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A woman casts her vote in a ballot at a polling station in Barcelona, on October 01 during a referendum on independence for Catalonia.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Francisco Seco/AP
Members of Spain's national police force clear people from a polling station where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont had been expected to vote, in Sant Julia de Ramis, near Girona, Spain on October 1. Catalan pro-referendum supporters said they would not comply with a police order to leave the schools they are occupying to use in a vote seeking independence from Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
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A woman celebrates outside a polling station after casting her vote in Barcelona, on October 01 in a referendum on independence for Catalonia.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
David Ramos/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Family members comfort each other after they were unable to vote in the referendum after Spanish police closed their polling station October 1 in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain.
Photos: Divisions in Spain over Catalonia crisis
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
People wait at the doors of the Moises Broggi school to start voting during the Catalan independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain on October 1.
But four years after that, the status was rescinded by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that while Catalan is a “nationality,” Catalonia is not itself a nation.
Catalonia’s campaign to break away has been gaining momentum since 2010, when Spain’s economy plunged during the financial crisis. Catalonia is the wealthiest region in Spain and is industrially more advanced than the rest of the country.
The national government argues that Spain’s Constitution, revised in 1978, says that all Spaniards have the right to vote in referenda on major issues, so any vote on secession must be put to all Spaniards. Less than half of the regions 5 million voters appear to have taken part in the referendum.
There are several other complications with the vote. Because Madrid declared the vote illegal, many Catalans who might have turned out to an independence referendum chose not to.
Images of the use of force by police also suggest that many voters were physically prevented from casting their ballots, or felt intimated to do so.
What’s next?
The world is now waiting to see if Catalan officials will unilaterally declare independence. Authorities had earlier threatened to make the declaration within 48 hours of the vote if secession won.
But on Monday, the Catalan President stopped short of such a declaration, calling for international mediation instead.
Madrid has the option of seizing control of Catalonia’s administration by triggering article 155 of the Constitution. It could use this time to call a snap election and negotiate with new Catalan leaders.
But this is a major risk for the Spanish government. Like the use of force on Sunday, such a measure would likely fuel resentment for Madrid among Catalan independence supporters and create more political turmoil.
There is more at stake for Madrid than losing its wealthiest region. The country has 17 regions with varying degrees of autonomy, and losing one may inspire other regions to begin, or revive, separatist movements.
CNN’s Angela Dewan and Hilary Clarke reported from London. Vasco Cotovio reported from Barcelona.
