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Groton Daily Independent
Sunday, Oct, 1, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 084 ~ 40 of 43
“They will appear,” he said with a shrug.
At the La Sagrera primary school in Barcelona, parent Saverio Trioni said 20 parents and children slept over on Friday but “we expect way more tonight. The plan is 100 at least.” They are holding a music fes- tival to keep everyone occupied.
Trioni said, however, that “we will leave if ordered to.”
A pro-independence grassroots group admitted that Sunday’s vote could be in jeopardy unless more schools were kept open to hold it. Open Schools spokesman Ramon Font told the AP he did not have an exact number on how many schools were being occupied but felt it was more than the number stated by police.
“If the number of schools kept open does not rise, then the ability to exercise our right to self-determi- nation will be in serious jeopardy. It will be very dif cult to vote,” Font said.
In Madrid, thousands of people rallied Saturday in a central plaza to protest the Catalan independence vote, angry and fearful that it could divide Spain. Some shouted “Long live Spain!” and “Puigdemont to jail!” Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont, who openly favors breaking away from Spain, is among
those promoting the independence vote.
In Barcelona, Francisco Morales, a 69-year-old retiree, said he was marching Saturday to defend the unity
of Spain against the “lies” of Catalan separatists. Morales and his wife were among thousands protesting the independence referendum.
“We don’t want division. It’s been enough lies telling people that they can’t be Catalans and Spanish at the same time,” Morales said. “The politicians supporting independence are bending the law to tear this country apart.”
Some anti-vote protesters scaled the windows of Barcelona’s city hall and tore a banner calling for “More Democracy” that the municipal government had hung in response to efforts to halt the vote.
Dozens of similar protests calling for the nation’s unity popped up in other Spanish cities in the rst large grassroots response to the Catalan independence bid.
The main civic group behind Catalonia’s push for independence said — given the concentrated efforts by Spain to block the vote — that a turnout of 1 million voters, less than a fth of the electorate, should be considered an “overwhelming success.”
Jordi Sanchez, president of the Catalan National Assembly, told reporters that police actions in Catalonia may make a large turnout dif cult.
Catalan authorities had hoped previously for a larger turnout than the 2.3 million people who voted in a mock referendum in 2014 in which 80 percent favored independence.
The Catalan government has pledged to declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of Sunday’s vote if the ‘yes’ side wins, no matter what the turnout is.
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Ciaran Giles contributed from Madrid.
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Follow complete AP coverage of the Catalonia referendum here .
Spain, Catalonia head for showdown over independence vote By ARITZ PARRA and CIARAN GILES, Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Montserrat Aguilera wasn’t intending to vote for the Catalonia region to se- cede from the rest of Spain.
But the 52-year-old laboratory worker changed her mind amid an unprecedented crackdown by Spain’s government as it tries to prevent Sunday’s independence referendum from going ahead.
Spain and its most powerful and prosperous region are headed for a showdown, with police trying to shut down polling stations to stop the referendum and activists, students and parents occupying schools designated voting places to keep them open.
Much remains unclear, including whether police will forcibly remove people who are still in the polling