In the febrile atmosphere of Catalonia’s attempted independence referendum and repression from Madrid, activists with the anarchist CNT union report that national police have been shipped in from all over Spain and are holed up at Barcelona’s port, seemingly in preparation to crush any significant upheavals.
Dock workers with Portuaris CNT have been tracking police movements in the Prince of Spain and Lepanto docks where three large ferries have been spotted which appear to be acting as hubs for officers loyal to the national PP (conservative) government.
Spanish President Mariano Rajoy has taken a heavily repressive line with the regional Catalan govenment over plans to mount a what Rajoy calls an illegal independence referendum on October 1st. Yesterday regional administrative offices across Catalonia were raided and 14 people detained, sparking a tense protest and standoff in Barcelona.
Madrid appears to be concerned about the loyalty of police on the ground, who are administered by the Barcelona government and have reportedly been reluctant to crack down hard on increasingly rowdy protests in the regional capital. A centrally-organised presence of national guard operating out of the docks would appear to be the PP’s standby measure to quickly enforce control if events escalate. Continue reading “CNT warns of riot cops shipped into Barcelona docks”
The Free 