saranghaezz501:
The Situation in Catalonia right now
Ok so I think this is important.
As you may (or may not) know, Catalonia is a “Spanish province” which has been fighting for independence for many years. There have always been people opposed to this (both people living in Catalonia as people living in Spain) but the truth is, a referendum was organised today in order to vote.
Now you all know how Democracy™ works, right? The Catalans actually have THE RIGHT to vote for independence and organise a referendum for that purpose. But, the Spanish constitution doesn’t give them that power. So if the Spanish government decides that Catalunya can’t hold a referendum, that’s it. Still, a lot of Catalans feel that democracy should rule over the constitution. I mean - sure. Some people want to vote YES and others NO… and that’s okay… both options are okay… the thing is, Spain took away their - our - right to vote.
October the first (1-O) has become an historical day for Catalonia. Just last week the Guardia Civil (Spanish police) was sent in masses towards Catalunya to “control all the violence the voting would present on 1-O”. The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, told everyone to remain calm… we were going to vote and we were going to do so in peace. There would be no riots, no open war - just peaceful demonstrations. Spain forbade the Catalans from having the referendum and ordered the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) to see that all the schools where the votings would take place remained shut during this historical day.
The Mossos refused. Of course they did, that order wasn’t even legal. But this morning, when Catalans came to vote peacefully, the Spanish police intervened and did a few of the following things:
- Stand guard in front of schools so that no one could vote.
- March up to people who tried to vote and hurt them.
- Use weapons like rubber bullets which are ILLEGAL in Catalunya.
- Beat people up, pull their hair, throw them down stairs, send them rolling across the street and kicking them in the guts.
- Beat up old people and leave them bleeding.
And many other horrible things. This was a peaceful act of democracy from the Catalans. The Spanish police had no right to do this… No one has the right to do this ever.
The Spanish are not to blame. Their government is. Many Spaniards were horrified today when they heard about what was happening. This is bigger than the independance… it’s about the right to vote either one thing or the other without being afraid for your life.
At 8 pm the votes closed and they’re counting right now. As someone who wants independance, I sure hope the final result will be YES. But it’s going to be real scary from now on.
I wanted to spread some awareness because to be honest, no one seems to know this is even going on right now.
EDIT/ UPDATE
THANK YOU! THANK YOU FOR SPREADING, YOU’RE ALL WONDERFULLLL!!!
The results aren’t known yet but I’ll keep this updated.
The toll of wounded people is higher than the international news is telling you.
Careful with the information on American TV. Trump supports the Spanish government. Information may not be 100% accurate. Remember: the Catalans did not commit an act of violence. The Spanish government did.
Update: Yes 2.020.144 No 176.566 Blank 45.585 Null 20.129
