Global Geo-political Series: Risk of civil turmoil rises over Catalonia referendum and police brutality

Risk of major civil confrontation is increasing in the Spanish region of Catalonia, which held an independence referendum last Sunday despite Spain’s constitutional court calling it illegal. Madrid took tough measures to prevent the vote from happening but as it failed to do so, the police force was employed to prevent the vote from happening. Police brutality injured around 900 Catalonia voters as police force pulled people out of the voting booth including elderly and female in order to prevent people from voting in the referendum. Despite the crackdown, more than 2 million people voted and 90 percent of them voted in favour of the independence.

While outrages from the world piling over Spanish government’s action in Catalonia, almost million came out on the street in the region since the referendum to condemn police brutality. On the other hand, those who are in favour of staying as a part of Spain have also come out in the street rallying, increasing the chance of a major civil confrontation. Catalonia’s pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont announced speaking to BBC that soon an independence will be announced officially and that further increases the risk of confrontation between pro-independence supporters and Madrid backed police force.

Vivid images available on the net and videos on YouTube from the referendum day not only shows police brutality but also the determination of the people not ready to move out of the voting booth despite the risk of serious injuries. With millions of people not being ready to back down is not a crisis that will be or can be resolved quickly.