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Spanish King Calls for Unity as Catalonians Protest

By VOA News October 03, 2017

Spain's King Felipe VI has condemned the Catalan authorities, saying they placed themselves "outside the law" by holding an independence vote Sunday.

In a television address to the nation Tuesday, the king called for unity even as thousands took to the streets across Spain's northeastern province to protest a Spanish police crackdown during the referendum.

Catalan labor unions called for the general strike to voice anger over the treatment by Spanish police of people trying to vote in the region's independence referendum.

A number of small businesses, medical facilities and schools shut down for the day or said they'd be operating at minimum capacity. Spain's famous Barcelona soccer team said it would join in the strike, and it suspended operations at its club headquarters for the day.

Officials in Catalonia said nearly 900 people were injured when police tried to keep residents from voting in the referendum, which was deemed unconstitutional by the Spanish courts. The violence followed a police crackdown during Sunday's independence referendum.

Video from Sunday showed police dragging people from polling stations, and beating and kicking would-be voters and demonstrators.

Amnesty International says its observers witnessed "excessive use of force" by Spanish police.

The top Spanish official in the Catalan region, Enric Millo, said Tuesday he regrets the violence that left so many people injured, but he blamed Catalan officials for "exposing citizens to danger."

He added, "Nothing of this would have happened if the government wouldn't have declared itself in rebellion, breaking the orders of the courts and lying and tricking people."

He said Spanish police only broke into schools being used as polling stations after local police failed to carry out a judge's order to stop the vote.

EU chief Donald Tusk appealed to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday to "avoid further escalation and use of force" in the standoff.

Officials in Catalonia say 90 percent of those who voted in the referendum chose independence from Spain, and called for international mediation to solve the political deadlock. Spain says the vote was held illegally.

Spain will do "everything within the law" to prevent Catalonia from declaring independence, Justice Minister Rafael Catala said Monday in an interview with Spanish public television.