Catalan referendum: Activists occupy school ahead of vote
More than 160 schools in Catalonia have been occupied by activists trying to keep them open ahead of the region's banned independence referendum, Spain's central government says.
Police visited 1,300 of the 2,315 schools in Catalonia designated as polling stations, finding 163 occupied.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attempt to vote on Sunday.
As a result, Spanish authorities are now stepping up their attempts to stop the ballot taking place.
Authorities in Madrid have sent thousands of police to the region to stop the referendum - declared illegal by Spain's constitutional court. They are being assisted by the Catalan regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra.
Police have now occupied the regional government's telecommunications centre.
Police have also been ordered to clear schools occupied by activists aiming to ensure the buildings can be used for voting.
Many of those inside the schools are parents and their children, who remained in the buildings after the end of lessons on Friday. Some told Reuters news agency that police had told them they could stay as long as they were not doing anything connected to Sunda's vote.
Laia, a 41-year-old sociologist who is staying in a Barcelona school this evening, said the police had visited four times.
"They read us out the part of the court order that says no activities related to the preparation of the banned referendum are allowed," she told Reuters.
What is the basis for the vote?
Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain, has its own language and culture.
It also has a high degree of autonomy, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution.
Pressure for a vote on self-determination has grown over the past five years as austerity has hit the Spanish economy and people hard.
But Spanish unionists argue Catalonia already enjoys broad autonomy within Spain, along with other regions like the Basque Country and Galicia.
Will the vote go ahead?
Officers have been visiting the locations due to be used as polling stations, as well as seizing items such as ballot papers, while prosecutors have ordered the closure of websites linked to the vote and the arrest of officials organising the referendum.
But Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont told Reuters that the referendum would go ahead.
"Everything is prepared at the more than 2,000 voting points so they have ballot boxes and voting slips, and have everything people need to express their opinion," he said.
Source: https://tctony..com.ng/2017/09/catalan-referendum-activists-occupy.html