Spain's Guardia Civil police have detained 14 Catalan officials and raided regional government ministries involved in organising a banned independence vote. Tensions were already high before Josep Maria Jové, number two in the Catalan vice-presidency, and others were held.

Thousands of Catalans took to the streets in protest and the regional leader complained of a power grab. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the state had been forced to act.

Catalonia's separatist government is defying a Constitutional Court order to halt the planned 1 October vote, which has been condemned by the Madrid government as illegal.

DO CATALANS WANT REFERENDUM?

Some 7.5 million people live in Spain's well-off north-eastern region and a majority are thought to be in favour of having a vote. However, one survey commissioned by the Catalan government in July suggested that 41% of voters backed independence while 49% were opposed.
Catalan nationalism has been stirred by Spain's economic crisis. While Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest regions, Catalans argue they pay more into the national budget than they get back. And a 2010 Constitutional Court ruling fuelled nationalist anger when it set limits on Catalan claims to nationhood.
In the non-binding 2014 vote , branded illegal by the Madrid government, just 2.2 million voters out of a potential 5.4 million turned out. Officials said 80% of them backed independence.

To read full article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41331152

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