The Procés and the 1 October 2017 Referendum
After years of mass mobilisation, Catalonia's government holds an independence referendum banned by the courts; police try to stop it, parliament declares independence, and Madrid takes direct control.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- 'Goodbye, Spain?' The Question of Independence for Catalonia — Kathryn Crameri, Sussex Academic Press (2014)
- A total of 2,305,290 Catalans have taken part in the 9-N participative process — Generalitat de Catalunya, Govern.cat (2014)
- Spain: Police Used Excessive Force in Catalonia — Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (2017)
- Sentencia 459/2019 (causa especial 20907/2017) — Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Penal, Poder Judicial (2019)
- Spanish Constitution (official English translation) — Cortes Generales, La Moncloa / Government of Spain (1978)
The independence movement grew from the street up. On the Diada of 2012 a vast march under the slogan “Catalonia, a new state in Europe” took place days before Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy rejected Catalan president Artur Mas’s request for a new fiscal deal. In 2013 a human chain stretched across Catalonia. The organisers, the Assemblea Nacional Catalana and Òmnium Cultural, were civic groups able to put hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, in famously peaceful and good-humoured protests.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- 'Goodbye, Spain?' The Question of Independence for Catalonia — Kathryn Crameri, Sussex Academic Press (2014)
From consultation to referendum
Madrid refused to authorise a vote, arguing that the Constitution did not allow one. On 9 November 2014 the Generalitat held a non-binding “participation process” instead: 2,305,290 people took part and 80.8% of them voted for independence, though most opponents stayed home. In the September 2015 Catalan election, framed by independentists as a plebiscite, pro-independence parties won a majority of seats (72 of 135) with about 48% of the vote. In January 2016 Carles Puigdemont became president, promising a referendum.
- A total of 2,305,290 Catalans have taken part in the 9-N participative process — Generalitat de Catalunya, Govern.cat (2014)
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
Autumn 2017
On 6 and 7 September 2017 the Catalan parliament’s majority passed a referendum law and a “transitional” law for a new republic, curtailing debate as opposition deputies protested and walked out. The Constitutional Court suspended both. On 20 September the Civil Guard raided Catalan government offices and arrested officials; outside the economy ministry a huge crowd gathered, and the leaders of the ANC and Òmnium, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, were later jailed for their role that day.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- Sentencia 459/2019 (causa especial 20907/2017) — Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Penal, Poder Judicial (2019)
On Sunday 1 October, people slept in schools to keep polling stations open. National Police and Civil Guard officers, sent by the Spanish government, used batons and rubber bullets to seize ballot boxes at some polling stations; images of injured voters went round the world. Catalan health authorities reported hundreds of people injured (figures of 800 to over 1,000 were given at different stages), and police officers were injured too. Human Rights Watch concluded the police had used excessive force. The Generalitat reported about 2.3 million votes, around 90% for independence, on a turnout of about 43%, without an official census or independent oversight; most opponents did not vote.
- Spain: Police Used Excessive Force in Catalonia — Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (2017)
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
On 3 October King Felipe VI gave a stern televised address condemning the Catalan authorities without a word for the injured, which many Catalans have never forgiven and many other Spaniards applauded. On 8 October hundreds of thousands of unionists marched in Barcelona with Spanish and Catalan flags. Banks and thousands of companies moved their registered offices out of Catalonia.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
Declaration and direct rule
On 10 October Puigdemont declared independence and suspended it in the same speech, calling for dialogue. On 27 October the Catalan parliament voted for a declaration of independence, by 70 votes to 10 with most of the opposition walking out. Within hours the Spanish Senate approved the use of Article 155 of the Constitution: Rajoy dismissed the Catalan government, dissolved parliament and called elections for 21 December. No country recognised the declaration. Puigdemont and several ministers left for Belgium; those who stayed, including vice-president Oriol Junqueras, were jailed pending trial.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- Sentencia 459/2019 (causa especial 20907/2017) — Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Penal, Poder Judicial (2019)
In the December election the unionist party Ciudadanos, led by Inés Arrimadas, came first with 36 seats, but independentist parties kept a narrow majority of seats with about 47.5% of the vote. Catalonia was, and remains, split roughly down the middle.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
After Madrid refused every request for an agreed referendum like Scotland's in 2014, Catalans had the democratic right to vote. Over two million people did so peacefully despite police batons and rubber bullets. The response, jailing elected leaders and suspending self-government, showed that Spain treats Catalonia as a possession, not a partner.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- Spain: Police Used Excessive Force in Catalonia — Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (2017)
Roughly half of Catalans, many with family roots elsewhere in Spain, never wanted independence. A government elected with under 48% of the vote tried to break away using laws pushed through parliament in two days, ignoring its own Statute and the opposition, and treated non-independentist Catalans as second-class. In October 2017 hundreds of thousands marched in Barcelona to say so.
- The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis — Andrew Dowling, Routledge (2018)
- 'Goodbye, Spain?' The Question of Independence for Catalonia — Kathryn Crameri, Sussex Academic Press (2014)
The Constitution, approved by Catalans too, makes national sovereignty belong to all Spaniards; no region can secede by itself. The referendum was illegal, had no proper census or guarantees, and the declaration of independence was an attack on democracy that the state had a duty to stop under Article 155.
- Spanish Constitution (official English translation) — Cortes Generales, La Moncloa / Government of Spain (1978)
- Sentencia 459/2019 (causa especial 20907/2017) — Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Penal, Poder Judicial (2019)
Why it matters today
"L'1 d'octubre" is the defining political memory of a generation, but remembered in opposite ways: as a day of dignity and police violence, or as the moment a government broke the law and split Catalan society in two. Families, friendships and workplaces still tiptoe around it.
For most Spaniards outside Catalonia, October 2017 was the gravest constitutional crisis since the 1981 coup attempt. It hardened Spanish nationalism, helped the far-right party Vox grow, and still dominates arguments over the amnesty and whom governments may ally with.