The president of Catalonia has accused the Spanish government of acting “beyond the limits of a respectable democracy” and violating fundamental rights in its latest efforts to prevent an independence referendum from being held in 10 days’ time. But writing in the Guardian a day after Spanish Guardia Civil officers raided regional government buildings and arrested 14 senior officials, Carles Puigdemont insists the vote will go ahead despite the mounting pressure. “Catalan home rule has effectively been suspended due to this anti-democratic attitude from the Spanish government,” he writes. “It’s a situation that harks back to the dark past of this country, when democracy was not a part of the Spanish dictionary. What is happening here in Catalonia would not happen anywhere else in the European Union.”

Puigdemont says requests for negotiations with the Madrid government have been ignored dozens of times, and the Spanish executive is refusing to entertain any dialogue on the issue. “Instead of engaging in discourse, the Spanish government has opted for police and judges, taking us beyond the limits of a respectable democracy,” he writes. “With the arrests of high-ranking officials and threats to detain democratically elected politicians, I believe the Spanish government has violated the European charter of fundamental rights.”(theguardian)…[+]