'We won't resort to violence': Catalans react as Spain swipes back power

Fireworks were set off outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, but not everybody was celebrating
REUTERS
Eleanor Rose27 October 2017

A day's drama turned into an unsettled evening in Barcelona after Catalonia declared itself an independent nation in Spain's gravest political crisis since the return of democracy four decades ago.

As Madrid announced it would sack the entire Catalan cabinet as well as the region's chief of police, thousands of independence supporters packed the Sant Jaume Square in front of the Catalan regional headquarters in Barcelona.

A counter-rally of pro-unity demonstrators drew hundreds, too, as Catalans took stock of the day's dramatic events.

Such a standoff has never happened before and Spain's future hangs in the balance.

Catalan riot police escorts demonstrators as they march against the unilateral declaration of independence
AP

Pro-independence group the National Assembly of Catalonia (ANC) called for "peaceful resistance" to Madrid and said it will no longer comment on Spain's actions since it sees it as a "foreign government".

"People are asking about (Prime Minister Mariano) Rajoy's measures, but in the ANC we have the custom not to comment the policies of foreign governments," it said on Twitter.

"They are approaching a cliff ... with consequences that are hard to predict right now," says Joan Barcelo, a researcher on political conflicts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Barcelona's mayor, Ada Collau Ballano, wrote angrily on Facebook that Spanish leaders "have enacted a coup against democracy today with the annihilation of Catalan self-government".

Catalan riot police talk to anti-independence supporters
AP

She called on politicians to sit down and talk. "There's always time to turn to dialogue. Whatever happens, we won't cease to demand it," she wrote.

"But now our task is to defend Catalan institutions and to fight to maintain the social cohesion and prosperity of Barcelona and Catalonia," she added.

Tensions ran high amid heavy police presence in Barcelona as commentators asked whether Spain's military or police would intervene after Catalan leaders called on citizens to enact civil disobedience.

Violence was not the answer, though, according to some.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a strong reaction from Madrid, I don’t know against who or how many people, but what us Catalans already know is that we won’t resort to violence,” said a pro-independence supporter called Marc, according to the Independent.

“If one side doesn’t want to fight, then there won’t be a fight,” he added.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, concerns were also being raised.

Rubén González, 24, who lives in Madrid, said: “All of Spain is angry.

“We hope nothing serious happens. The independence is unilateral - it’s not valid.”

Irene Diaz-Regañón Jiménez, 29, an engineer from Madrid, said: “I think it’s an error and it makes me worried. I don’t really know what’s going to happen next. I don’t like the situation.”

They ask about the measures of Rajoy, but in the ANC we have as a rule not to comment the policy of foreign governments

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