“If somebody tries to declare the independence of part of the territory — something that cannot be done — we will have to do everything possible to apply the law,” Mr. Catalá said on national television on Monday. In the short term, the police crackdown could help Catalan separatists, who are part of a fragile coalition in the regional government, broaden their support. “Today, Catalan society isn’t discussing whether the result is valid or not, but is in a state of shock about how the voting took place,” Ernest Urtasun, a leftist Catalan politician, said on Spanish television on Monday. Mr. Puigdemont is committed to declaring independence, but he is also pressuring the international community to mediate in the conflict and to condemn the Madrid-ordered police clampdown. In a statement, the European Commission — the executive arm of the bloc — called for “unity and stability,” but it showed no sign that it would reverse its position and intervene on behalf of supporters of independence.

Source: New York Times October 02, 2017 10:41 UTC