Has a nice ring to it.

By now, if you had any interest, and probably even if you didn't, you know that today's referendum on independence in Catalonia came with a few incidents. The Guardia Civil, lovelies of the Franco era, and the State Police of Spain invaded polling stations with sledge hammers, dragged Catalonians out by their hair, truncheoned more with an atavistic abandon, and fired rubber bullets into crowds. The national police forces faced off with Catalan police (the Mossos) at times, though those Catalan police also had closed more polling stations than anyone else. The national police forces truncheoned Catalan firefighters who tried to get between the police and the civilians on the streets. At most recent count, 844 Catalonians were injured, and two remain in the hospital. Barcelona's mayor and several other leaders have called for Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy to step down.

At the end of the day, after polls closed, the following occurred.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/oct/01/catalan-independence-...

Carles Puigdemont, Catalan’s leader, announced in a televised statement that the region had earned the right to become an independent state and that results of the contentious referendum were expected in a few days.

In a press conference shortly before, a defiant Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said no referendum had been held today and blamed unrest on the Catalan government.

Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez urged the Spanish government to negotiate with Catalonia and said Spanish and Catalan leaders had failed so far.

So, the ones calling for the referendum are saying they're ready to declare independence unilaterally. Spain says the referendum never happened, so Catalonia has no grounds to declare independence, and the Socialists just want everyone to get along.

**************************************************************************************
UPDATE, 7:20 pm EST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/oct/01/catalan-independence-...

In that referendum that never happened, . . .

Jordi Turull, a Catalan regional government spokesman, said early on Monday that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted on Sunday voted in favour of independence. The region has 5.3 million voters.

He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.

**************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, forty labor unions and other Catalan organizations are calling for a regionwide strike on Tuesday, ostensibly in protest of Spain's handling of this vote, or not vote.

Of course there is posturing and claims of victory before the dust has cleared to see who's standing where. But this is far from over. Spain's actions discredited them.

Reactions from others throughout Europe have been mostly tepid. Corbyn was probably the most critical, and spoke up early in the cycle. Everyone (almost) agrees the police were a problem. No one is urging independence, though.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s Brexit chief, said:

"I don’t want to interfere in the domestic issues of Spain but I absolutely condemn what happened today in Catalonia."

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

"Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt."

Britain’s foreign ministry said:

"The referendum is a matter for the Spanish government and people. We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld."

Belgium prime minister Charles Michel said:

"Violence can never be the answer! We condemn all forms of violence and reaffirm our call for political dialogue."

Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic said:

"Our position is clear and principled, Spain is one of the greatest friends of Serbia.

“[Madrid] is in the same position on the issue of the territorial integrity of Serbia."

French economy minister Bruno Le Maire said:

"Spain is a friendly nation, a proud people. Clearly I hope that civil peace will reign in Spain."

So, diplomatically clear but mostly weak reactions as befits politicians who will sense the need to work with each other again. And a response from Serbia that only Rajoy could welcome as a pat on the back from a friend.

Though Catalonia generates more wealth than most regions of Spain (which is why Spain wants to keep it and partly why Catalonians are considering leaving), and though Catalonians share at least as much or more culturally with the people of southern France than with most of Spain, remember, Europe liked Spain under the rule of Franco. Law-and-order suppression of the populace appeals to European political and business leaders who have spent centuries in conflict with each other. The EU also liked Greece under iron control.

But the Spanish response today will have done nothing in the minds of Catalonians to tamp down any independence movement, just the opposite. This is not over.