Homage to Catalonia: People defy Madrid casting ballots in symbolic independence vote

Published time: November 09, 2014 09:14
Edited time: November 09, 2014 10:19

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People cast their ballots on November 9, 2014 in a school in Barcelona to vote in a symbolic ballot on whether to break away as an independent state, defying fierce challenges by the Spanish government. (AFP Photo/Lluis Gene)

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High numbers of Catalan voters are determined to take part in the highly-anticipated symbolic poll on Sunday on whether to split from Spain and become an independent country.
After Spain's High Court ruled the independence referendum proposed by Catalan leader Artur Mas unconstitutional last month, the Madrid government has also issued a ban on the informal poll, forbidding Catalans from making any public show of support for independence.

Thousands rallied in front of the National Museum of Catalonia on Friday, however, in an effort to show resolve to stage the November 9 so-called "consultative vote," despite warnings from Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy's government to disrupt it.

People wait on November 9, 2014 outside a school in Barcelona to vote in a symbolic ballot on whether to break away as an independent state, defying fierce challenges by the Spanish government. (AFP Photo/Lluis Gene)

READ MORE: Catalans gear up for symbolic independence vote Sunday defying Madrid’s ban
Rajoy said ahead of the vote: “The law will be enforced. There will be no referendum that calls into question the sovereignty of the Spanish nation. There will be no division of Spanish territory while I am prime minister.”

However, according to opinion polls, up to 80 percent of Catalans want more autonomy from Spain, with about 50 percent backing full independence. With its own language and culture, the comparatively well-off autonomous region has a population of 7.5 million and accounts for nearly one-quarter of Spain’s GDP.

People take part in a Sardana dance, a typical Catalan dance, near the cathedral in Barcelona, November 8, 2014. (Reuters/Gustau Nacarino)

The polls look set to draw up to 1.5 million people, to whom the vote is about protecting their right to freedom of expression.

Thousands of residents in northeast Spain have been showing their support for the poll, with call centers run by volunteers being set up to draw more and more people into the vote, RT’s Marina Portnaya reported. Over 40,000 volunteers will help set up voting stations Sunday.

It's hoped that a high level of support could at least bring central government to the negotiation table on such issues as tax and political autonomy.

Voting slips are ready for the 9N consultation in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, near Barcelona, November 8, 2014. (Reuters/Albert Gea)

Catalans will be able to vote in the poll simply by showing up and registering. Given that the vote won't be officially organized, due to a ban on "preparatory activities," municipalities can reserve the right not to stage the poll.

"It's not a referendum or a consultation or anything that resembles that," Rajoy said, criticizing the symbolic vote.

But even as Rajoy urged Catalans to "return to sanity" on Saturday, the spokesman for the Catalan regional government, Francesc Homs, said that Spanish judiciary have pledged that no one will be able to "ban citizens’ freedom of expression."