Catalonia goes on strike to protest independence

Barcelona said none of its professional or youth teams practiced yesterday and the club headquarters were closed.

In addition, there were 176,565 Catalans who opted for their stay in this European nation (7.87 percent), 45,586 ballot papers were in blank and 2,129 null.

He called for Spanish national police reinforcements to leave the region after Sunday’s violence, and for worldwide mediation to solve the political deadlock.

Barca’s game against Las Palmas was played out in tense circumstances following the decision to ban fans from the Camp Nou.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has defended playing Sunday’s match against Las Palmas behind closed doors, describing it as “one of the most hard decisions I’ve made”. “It is not a domestic matter”.

It’s anybody’s guess what might happen if the northeastern region of Catalonia does actually try to secede.

Fans were locked out with the news communicated 20 minutes from kick-off. “In the end, what we did lasted for 90 minutes”.

Spain, which declared Sunday’s referendum illegal and invalid, is bitterly opposed to any independence move. Mr. Hernando told Spanish national radio that radical separatist politicians “are hoping to provoke deaths in Catalonia”.

Spain’s King Felipe VI has condemned organisers of Catalonia’s independence referendum for having put themselves “outside the law”.

The European Commission Vice President has called on Spain and Catalonia to keep all lines of communications open, in order to find a solution to the current impasse following Sunday’s controversial independence referendum for the region.

In Barcelona‘s Catalonia and University squares, a sea of demonstrators waved flags, a lot of them “esteladas”, embraced by those seeking secession, but there were also plenty of Spanish national flags.

Members of the Civil Guard, a central police force bussed in from Madrid, fired rubber bullets at crowds of protesters and were seen beating and throwing voters downstairs as they went to the polling booths.

Barcelona’s employees on Monday held a 15-minute strike to condemn the violence used by authorities.

“This was one of the most hard decisions that I’ve made”, said the 54-year-old.

Barcelona’s main squad is without some of its top players because they have joined their national teams in the global break.