Catalans reach referendum day unsure if they'll get to vote

(Bloomberg) Catalan separatists and Spanish law-enforcement officials are approaching their moment of truth on Sunday as activists prepare to open polling stations for a referendum on independence that’s been declared illegal.

The 6am deadline for police to seal off voting locations came and went on Sunday with no sign of a crackdown at sites in central Barcelona and in Girona. Activists slept in the buildings overnight, prepared to bar access to the premises if police arrived. In Girona, near the French border, a tractor blocked the entrance.

Another polling station in downtown Barcelona had a makeshift sign hung outside saying, "Come, Vote, Spend the Day." On one of the regional capital’s main boulevards, Gran Via, a four-meter high banner read, "Welcome to the Catalan Republic." Polls are expected to be open from 9am to 8pm.

Catalan police have sealed off 1,300 of the 2,315 polling stations, Enric Millo, the central government’s main representative in Catalonia, told reporters on Saturday.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has deployed thousands of police to Catalonia to maintain public order ahead of a vote declared illegal by the Spanish constitutional court. The region’s bid to break away is the biggest challenge to the political settlement instituted following the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco, which sought to tie restive regions into Spain’s new democracy.

It’s unclear when or if a result will be announced and no exit polls are planned, though those who do vote are likely to come overwhelmingly from the pro-independence camp. A non-binding vote in 2014, also held in defiance of the Spanish courts, saw 80% back a split from Spain on turnout of about 30%. In the most recent Catalan government poll in July, 35% of respondents said the region should become independent.

Spanish police housed on cruise ships in the port of Barcelona have been circulating in the city center over the past week, dressed in civilian clothes, according to photos posted on social media. On Sunday morning, a Catalan police van cruised past a polling station in the city every 10 minutes or so, to cheers from the crowd of about 100 activists gathered there.

In Girona, an organiser in her 20s asked supporters to sign up for one of three shifts during the day to defend a solitary ballot box, which had been brought from a secret location and set up inside the hall. She said everyone should be back when voting ends at 8pm to help ensure they can count the ballots and told supporters to be ready to link arms outside the venue if they heard that police were coming.

"We have people posted round about who will warn us," said another organizer, Oriol Pujolras, a music student also in his 20s. "We will stay where we are, standing up or sitting down. But under no circumstances will we get violent."

Some 7,000 people have signed up to help organize the voting across the region, the Catalan government says.

Catalan history of grievance leaves a divided Spain

Spanish police acting on orders of a judge searched a regional-government technology center on Saturday in a bid to thwart a backup plan to hold the referendum online if polling stations are shut, Millo said.

A magistrate at Catalonia’s High Court ordered Google to remove the "On Votar 1-Oct" app from the Google Play service, according to an emailed statement from the court. In a separate ruling, the magistrate ordered the Catalan technology agency to shut a chain of applications that potentially could be used for the vote.

Spain’s data-protection agency also warned that accessing or using data from the official voter registry could incur fines of as much as €300,000. And the aviation authority said it would restrict airspace over Barcelona during referendum weekend.

"I’m asking the Catalan president to call off the referendum, because if it goes ahead he is likely to end up having to appear before a judge," Millo said. "What is certain is that tomorrow there won’t be a binding referendum with guarantees."

Jorge Toledo, Spain’s deputy minister for the European Union, filling in for Rajoy at an EU conference in Tallinn, Estonia, said on Friday that negotiations on resolving the Catalans’ complaints with Spain could start once the rule of law has been restored. Last week, Millo said that Puigdemont may have to be ousted by the courts before that can happen.

Indeed, separatists are planning further action next week to follow up the vote. One trade union allied has notified the government it plans a week-long general strike starting October 3.