Catalonia plans independence referendum, Spain threatens military intervention (Photo)

Volunteers of the Catalonian National Assembly (ANC), the largest platform of Catalan independence, have already begun senbilising the opinion of divisions, reported “Deutsche Welle”, the Periscope broadcast.

They're distributing yellow buttons and sports green buttons using “Like” in favor of independence. These T-shirts will be worn on the mass demonstration on 11 September, the national Catalan holiday known as “Diada”. Every year since 2012, hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated their region becoming independent.

This year, participants want to set up two main roads in Barcelona to form a large “x” that symbolizes a sign for “As” in the ballot.

The gathering is under way amid preparations for a planned independence referendum. On October 1st, the region in northeastern Spain wants to vote for its state in elections the central government in Madrid considers illegal.

Against the bitter resistance of the opposition and the Spanish central government, the Catalan parliament on Wednesday was forced to pass through a relevant law which the Spanish Constitutional Court immediately suspended in a hurry. However, the positive enthusiasm of pro-independence supporters is evident.

“was a very exciting moment”, says Yaume Ander, who had just bought neon T-shirts for himself and his wife. “Now we've faced a radical change and we're setting the way for our future”. Recently, politicians are following the people's mandate and creating facts on the ground, he added.

The Hard Reaction From Madrid

The mood has softened among pro-independence supporters, despite the state crisis the debate has already caused, and despite the consequences disclosed by the highest politicians.

The Spanish prosecutor demands that police stop all preparations and are threatening indictments because of disobedience, abuse of office, and the loss of public funds, all of which are sentenced to prison under Spanish law.

The regional government is challenging. “We will face the tsunami of lawsuits and trials with a tsunami of democracy”, Catalonas President Carles Puigdemont said after harsh words from Madrid.

The independence movement in the prosperous Mediterranean region has been on the rise for years. Besides hoping that it would be more successful without the payment of transfers to poor Spanish areas, emotional reasons play an important role.

Many Catalans think they have no knowledge of their culture and language, and separatists do not feel that Madrid takes them seriously politically.

Civil Resistance      

On Catalan television, advertising continues to campaign for the referendum, and preparations continue even outside the screen.

In the 24 hours it has spent between adopting the law and suspending it from the Constitutional Court, 16,000 registered volunteers and 560 municipalities have assured the Catalan prime minister of their support.

They want to prepare and conduct the referendum, even if they are prosecuted for it.

“is almost impossible to prevent the opening of polling stations on October 1st”, constitutional lawyer Xavier Arbos said. To that end, Spain's security forces should actually block entry into polling stations on election day and, if necessary, seize ballot boxes. “would be a very ugly image in front of the world, which Spain would surely want to avoid”, Arbos says.

The referendum is based on people's right to self-rule. However, according to determined jurisdiction, this applies only to previous colonies or ethnic groups in which people are oppressed because of ethnic affiliation.

As a unilaterally initiated vote outside the legal framework, it also fails to meet the preconditions for referenda set by the Venice Commission, an organ of the Council of Europe that advises constitutional right.

However, the Catalan regional government has not taken into account legal concerns. It has announced that if the referendum result favours a split from Spain, independence will be announced two days later./Periscopi/