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WORLD NEWS Saturday 30 September 2017
Stalemate over Catalan vote keeps Spain in suspense

By BARRY HATTON regional police chief, Maj.
ARITZ PARRA Josep Lluis Trapero, said
Associated Press patrols would be sent to
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — confiscate ballot boxes
Scores of Catalan farmers and electoral papers.
on tractors rumbled into Separatist groups had al-
downtown Barcelona on ready been calling on par-
Friday, driving down the ents to organize activities
city’s broad boulevards with students at the schools
in a show of support for a to prevent police from clos-
potentially explosive vote ing them before the vote.
on whether the prosperous David Martinez, a 46-year-
region should break away old father of three, said he
from the rest of Spain and was bringing his children to
become Europe’s newest a weekend-long activity at
country. their school in Barcelona’s
The Spanish government Eixample district.
and secession-minded au- “Given the recent events,
thorities in the northeast- the school community has
ern Catalonia region were decided to stand up and
on a collision course, with defend the democratic
the independence refer- values that our kids need
endum still slated for Sun- to learn,” he said. “Values
day despite efforts by the A man with the estelada, or Catalonia independence flag, steers a tractor during a protest by that are important, like
farmers in Barcelona, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. Authorities in Catalonia aim to ensure that a disputed
courts and police to stop it. referendum on independence from Spain will take place peacefully on Sunday despite a freedom, dialogue, par-
The tractors carried the crackdown on the vote by the national government, the region’s interior chief said. ticipation.” The Catalan
Catalan pro-indepen- (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) regional government and
dence flag, called the “es- constitution, which refers and have blocked the dis- most of them in schools, by local civic groups insist they
telada,” to the office of the to “the indissoluble unity of tribution of ballot boxes. On 6 a.m. Sunday to prevent are entitled to exercise
national government’s rep- the Spanish nation.” Any Friday, the Catalan police the referendum from tak- their democratic rights and
resentative in Barcelona. vote on Catalan seces- were ordered to clear out ing place. intend to do so regardless
Similar tractor protests were sion would have to be held all 2,315 polling stations, In an internal memo, the of the obstacles. q
being held across Cata- across all of Spain, the gov-
lonia. The region’s biggest ernment says.
farmers’ union said the “This secessionist process
demonstrations were part has been illegal from the
of their fight for “democ- start,” government spokes-
racy and liberty.” man Inigo Mendez de
With weeks of antagonism Vigo said Friday. “Since
and tension coming to the referendum ... won’t
a head, neither side was have any political conse-
showing signs of backing quence, pursuing it won’t
down from a confrontation do anything but extend
that has pitched Spain into the damage, the harm
a political and constitution- and the disintegration that
al crisis. it is already doing.” Act-
The Madrid-based Span- ing on court orders, police
ish government has main- have confiscated about 10
tained the ballot cannot million ballot papers and
and will not happen be- some 1.3 million posters ad-
cause it contravenes the vertising the referendum,

Prosecutors: Dutch boy, 14, has

confessed to slaying his parents

THE HAGUE, Netherlands dam. Police detained the
(AP) — Dutch prosecutors son the same evening on
say a 14-year-old boy has suspicion of involvement in
confessed to killing his par- the deaths.
ents with a knife, a double Prosecutors said Friday that
slaying that sent shock- an investigating judge has
waves through the tiny agreed to extend the son’s
northern village where they detention by two weeks
lived and beyond. while investigations con-
The bodies of the couple, tinue. Tjeerd van der Zwan,
reportedly 63 and 62, were mayor of nearby Heeren-
discovered Tuesday morn- veen, said in a statement
ing in Katlijk, a rural village this week that, “It goes
with some 600 inhabitants without saying that an
that lies 140 kilometers (87 event like this has a pro-
miles) northeast of Amster- found effect on people.”q