Catalonia has won, according to the region’s president, the “right to statehood” after violent clashes with Spanish police regarding the region’s independence referendum.
The shocking scenes, including police beating Catalan firefighters protecting voters from being targeted, took place just a day before, after Catalonia held what the Spanish government are deeming an illegal referendum. Although there are no true statistics on vote counts, Catalonia’s President Charles Puigdemont stated on live television that “Europe and the E.U. would no longer be able to look the other way” and that Catalonia has won “the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic.”
While the current numbers regarding how many people voted for Catalonia to become independent are somewhat uncertain, with only one reported number coming from Catalan’s government spokesman, Jordi Turrull, who stated that “90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the “yes” side in favor of independence,” we do know that the voter turnout was low, 42.3% to be exact.
Despite seeming as though this should be a clear win for pro-independence Catalans, Spain’s government has warned multiple times that under Spanish law, the referendum was not legal, and as such, they have maintained that the vote that took place on Sunday in the Spanish region is therefore nullified and will not be recognized as lawful.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Catalans remain injured after Spanish police conducted violent raids on polling stations and attempted to prevent many other voters from entering and being able to conduct their vote.
The referendum itself has been referred to by many as “chaotic” and it is unsure at this moment in time whether it will truly have any political impact on Catalonia’s status as an independent nation.
