2017 Catalan Independence Referendum

Overview

The 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum refers to a vote in favor of Catalan's independence from Spain held in early October 2017. Following a majority vote in favor of independence, a constitutional crisis occurred leading the Spanish government to launch a police operation halting the referendum.

Background

On September 20th, 2017, the Government of Spain launched Operation Anubis to halt the referendum, through which 16,000 police and military police officers were sent to various cities in Catalan, leading to protests in front of government buildings in the region. On October 1st, 2017, Spanish police raided polling stations throughout Catalonia, and firing rubber bullets and hitting voters with batons. According to the Catalan health ministry, 844 people were injured.^[10] According to the Catalan government, police closed polling stations representing as many as 770,000 voters. Of eligible electors, 42% were able to cast their ballots, with 91.6% voting in favor of the referendum.

Developments

Police Brutality Videos

On October 1st, The Exposer YouTube channel uploaded footage of riot police attacking Catalonian protesters (shown below, left). Meanwhile, the Lelk TV channel uploaded similar footage of police clashing with demonstrators (shown below, right).

Response

In response to the police operation, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said, "police brutality will shame forever the Spanish state." Catalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Raül Romeva called on the European Union to intervene, saying "Today Europe has to choose, shame or dignity."^[9] On Twitter, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for Spain to "let people vote peacefully" (shown below).^[8]

Online Reaction

On October 1st, Redditor pipsdontsqueak submitted a post about the referendum to /r/worldnews^[3] titled "Catalonia has 'won the right to statehood'", which received more than 73,00 points (79% upvoted) and 11,500 comments over the next 24 hours. That day, a post about Catalonia firefighters protecting referendum voters from riot police reached the front page of /r/worldnews.^[4] Meanwhile, the /r/worldnews^[6] subreddit launched a live thread about the independence referendum. On October 2nd, Redditor GallowBoob submitted a photograph of tractors blocking streets placed by farmers to block riot police in Catalan to /r/pics^[5] (shown below).

That day, Redditor PrinceOfPontecorvo posted a photograph of Spanish riot police in Catalan with the caption "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition" to /r/dankmemes^[1] (shown below, left). Also on October 2nd, Redditor ChrisTheCoolBean posted a Jeb Wins photoshop titled "Catalan independence referendum, 2017" to /r/The_Donald^[7] (shown below, middle). On October 3rd, Redditor Master_Jopa posted a composite image of comedian Steve Harvey with a joke about the referendum to /r/dankmemes^[2] (shown below, right).

Protests

On October 3rd, 15,000 demonstrators stopped traffic outside the headquarters of Spain's national police force in Barcelona. That day, BBC News broadcast footage from the demonstration (shown below).

Search Interest

External References