Police in riot gear fire rubber bullets at pro-independence activists
337 people were injured or bruised, according to Catalonian spokesperson
Ballot boxes seized by police in referendum banned by Madrid
Madrid appeals for "cooperation and respect"
Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets and seized ballot boxes from polling stations in Catalonia on Sunday as thousands flooded the streets to vote in an independence referendum banned by Madrid.
As the vote officially opened, scenes of chaos erupted as police began moving in to prevent people from casting their ballots, forcing their way into one sports centre in the town of Girona where the region's separatist leader was due to vote.
Catalonian government spokesperson, Jordi Turull i Negre, said on Sunday afternoon that 337 people had visited hospital with injuries or bruises sustained in the violence, and urged any other wounded people to report themselves to Mossos. So far 91 have been confirmed to be injured, one of them with a serious eye injury.
danielson1987 on October 1st, 2017 at 12:36 UTC »
Firing rubber bullets at Catalan locals is the best way to make them want to stay
atlusblue on October 1st, 2017 at 10:31 UTC »
Natural question: what are the other EU nations saying? I imagine some might approve or disagree with the current events but I'm hearing very little.
Dank_Redditor on October 1st, 2017 at 10:21 UTC »
The Spanish central government is handling this situation very poorly.
Even the current Iraqi government knows how to respond to an independence referendum (which in their case is the Iraqi Kurdistan Independence Referendum) that Iraq recently experienced just 5 days ago.
Let the referendum happen and ignore reject the undesired result, but offer meaningful negotiations.
Note: This comment does not mean I'm against the Kurds or Catalans.
EDIT: Ignoring the referendum result would only be "kicking the can down the road". In a situation like this, the solution has to involve giving both sides partially of what they want. The separatists get their referendum and the pro-Spain group maintains a unified Spain, but on the condition that meaningful negotiations would be offered.
EDIT #2: What the Iraqi government did in response to the Kurdish referendum was not only rejecting the result, but telling other foreign countries to reject or ignore the result as well.