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CATALONIA’S VICE-PRESIDENT has admitted that plans to hold an outlawed independence referendum had been dealt a major blow by a crackdown yesterday, as people gathered in Barcelona for a second day of protests.
Thousands took to the streets of the Mediterranean seaside city yesterday after police detained key members of the team allegedly organising the vote slated for 1 October in a region deeply divided over independence.
Authorities seized nearly 10 million ballots destined for the vote, seriously damaging separatist plans for a referendum with a semblance of legitimacy, even if it was never going to be recognised by Madrid or abroad as it violates the constitution.
Rules have ‘changed’
After a day-long protest that lasted well into the night, several thousand independence supporters gathered again today in front of the high court in what influential separatist organisations said would be a “permanent mobilisation” until the officials are freed.
A spokesman for Spain’s interior ministry said three of the 14 detained had already been released.
Oriol Junqueras, the region’s vice-president whose deputy was among those held, told Catalonia’s TV3 television that the operation meant “the rules of the game have been changed”.
The circumstances today are different because a significant part of our team, half of the economics team, has been arrested. That (the referendum) cannot be held in the circumstances that we wanted is obvious.
Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull was more optimistic, telling Catalan radio there was “a solution to all problems”.
But the road ahead is complicated.
Police have seized over 45,000 notifications destined for Catalans selected to staff polling stations, threatened to arrest mayors who facilitate the vote if they do not comply with a criminal probe and tightened control over the region’s finances.
The confiscation of millions of ballot papers delivered an added blow to referendum plans.
“Madrid’s legal response to the Catalan challenge looks increasingly likely to stop the organisation of the self-determination vote, or at least devoid it of any legitimacy,” wrote Antonio Barroso, deputy director of research at advisory firm Teneo Intelligence.
Resentment growing
In a televised statement on yesterday evening, Rajoy called on Catalonia’s separatist leaders to “stop this escalation of radicalism and disobedience once and for all”.
“There is still time to avoid bigger problems,” he said.
And Inigo Mendez de Vigo, a spokesman for the Spanish government, downplayed the importance of the protests.
“There are more people who don’t protest than who do,” he said during an interview with Onda Cero radio.
Polls show that Catalans are sharply divided on whether they want independence or not, with the latest survey commissioned by the regional government in July showing 49.4% against and 41.1% in favour.
But Madrid’s repeated insistence on the illegal nature of the independence drive has generated much resentment in a region where separatists were once far fewer, with critics in both camps saying the central government has not made any attempt to win over hearts and minds.
This has led to a perception that the central government doesn’t care, exacerbated by the recent economic crisis and the fact that Catalonia pays more in taxes than it receives in investments and transfers from Madrid.
“I had always considered myself Catalan and Spanish,” David Barnet, a 36-year-old firefighter, said at the Barcelona protest on Thursday.
But when you see that day after day they ask and ask some more, and don’t give anything in return… you get angry.
While divided, a large majority of Catalans would like to vote in a legitimate referendum to settle the matter, polls show.
Barroso predicted that Madrid’s action would likely “lead to a sustained period of mobilisation against Rajoy’s government in the streets in Catalonia, including a day of significant demonstrations on 1 October.”
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I could say the alphabet backwards when I was 19
there was no support for me in school, i was reading at a 14 year old level and doing calculus by the time i was 7, i was reading dinosaurs latin names at 3,there were no resources in the 70′s and early 80′s when i went to school so i had to endure mind numbing boredom for 6-7 hours a day for 11 years, there was nothing the teachers could do, it put me off academia for ever, i just couldnt wait to get out of there
How about a case of a gifted young person whose financially challenged parents were repeatedly told their child had a “great future ahead” – which was interpreted by the parents as a great big dollar sign. The child was then told when they grew up they could “help” Mammy and Daddy which of course was correctly interpreted by the said child, who went off on a self destructive collision course to sabotage their own future as best possible, eventually culminating in a 6 month disappearance at the age of 28 leaving plenty of unpaid debts. A cautionary tale, but a lesson that parents should not have their child’s future framed in terms of how much their potential earnings are.
i should also mention my own laziness there and not put all the blame on others…
I could do my 7 times tables in 6.9 seconds when I was eight, now it takes me 6.9 days………
It would have been better to talk to the kids themselves than an educator who just speaks for them, no?
Of course any child’s talents should be supported but it is better to let children follow their passions. In terms of education problems (as being a genius isn’t a ‘problem’ per se), I’d be more worried about falling standards in schools and about kids who go to uni and can’t spell properly, can’t formulate an argument and will only do something if it is “on the exam”… because that’s how they’ve been conditioned by the Leaving Cert. Doling out A’s and B’s just seems to enhance ‘entitlement’ culture that flourished during the Celtic Tiger debacle…
Try being a gifted kid growing up in a working class Catholic family, educated at a Catholic state school where any deviation from the norm made you a potential delinquent or a target for bullying. There are gifted alcoholics propping up bars in towns and villages all over this country, those who managed to avoid being labelled and institutionalised as many gifted adults were and still are I suspect.
there probably are gifted alcoholics propping up bars everywhere…..but they have no one to blame but themselves….
“So, here, they can make friends and talk about whatever they want – comics, girls, cars, sports, whatever – just like any other group of kids.”
Girls?
How very inclusive of all bright kids.
CTYI doesn’t accomplish a lot of its stated aims. Back in my day, a lot of the people who went there were hippie-stoner types. At least they had more then enough brain cells to murder with weed fumes…
Could easily be confused with Asperger Syndrome based on the behaviours these gifted children exhibit.
have your say