A day after Catalonia's unrecognised independence referendum both Barcelona's mayor and Catalonia's vice president have denounced the violence that overshadowed it.
A day after Catalonia’s unrecognised independence referendum both Barcelona’s mayor and Catalonia’s vice president have denounced the violence that overshadowed it.
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Over 900 people were injured as riot police sent in by Madrid clashed with supporters of Sunday’s vote.
It was ruled as unconstitutional and illegal by Spain’s judiciary and the government has dismissed the result.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, authorities said the “Yes” vote stood at 90.1 percent, on a turnout of 2.26 million out of 5.34 million registered voters, or 42 percent.
The tally was no surprise as most of those who backed continued union with Spain were expected to disregard the vote and stay home. Recent opinion polls had put support for independence at only around 40 percent.
“Most of the citizens were able to vote in adequate conditions despite the severe indiscriminate repression and therefore we feel bound by the democratic mandate of citizens,” Oriol Junqueras, the Catalan vice-president said.
A statement delivered by
AdaColau</a>, Mayor of Barcelona, on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CatalanReferendum?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CatalanReferendum</a> & police attacks <a href="https://t.co/kYIUrZs1eS">pic.twitter.com/kYIUrZs1eS</a></p>— Aaron Vallely (Vallmeister) October 1, 2017
The mayor of Barcelona called on the European Union to help set up negotiations between the central government and Catalonia to try to resolve what is Spain’s worst constitutional crisis for decades.
“I think the EU has seen what is happening in Catalonia and Spain and it’s their duty to help recover a climate of negotiation and political mediation,” Ada Colau, the Mayor of Barcelona said.
“The solution must be political and Europe cannot be left out of this.”
But the European commission has so far declined to intervene in what it has described as an internal Spanish matter. It has urged both sides to “move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue.”