Catalonia Goes to Next Stage

I've commented a couple of times in the past two weeks about this independence movement in Catalonia, Spain (northeastern side of the country).

So the next part of this episode is unfolding.

There had been a internet site up and running with information on the upcoming vote.  At 7PM last night, the cops came to the internet provider and had him shut down the site......based on an order by a Spanish federal judge from Barcelona.

Naturally, the Prime Minister of the region, Carles Puigdemont, did a Trump-like movement.  He stood up on Twitter and said he'd reopen the site shortly.  Maybe the cops ought to get smart and take away his Twitter account.

My humble guess is that it'll be outside of the country, and very likely outside of the EU (maybe in Brazil, or on some Caribbean island).  The cops and the judge might have more difficulty in shutting down this next site.

The cops and the court also went to the next stage on the mayors of the region.  There's a Spanish federal investigation going on now with 700 mayors from Catalonia.  These guys are in trouble for saying they'd provide voting structures (schools, gyms, etc).  If they fail to provide the support.....the vote won't happen.

The interesting thing here is that the Spanish federal government is suggesting that the 700 mayors could be punished....imprisoned perhaps.  If you were looking at a guaranteed way to get locals really hyped up and focused on having a vote....detaining or arresting the 700 mayors would absolutely make that happen.

On top of this (it only gets better), the Attorney General for the federal government of Spain says there's going to be a hearing and the 700 mayors must attend.  Accusations?  Disobedience and misappropriation of state funds is suggested.  If they fail to attend....they will be arrested....so says the federal lawyer.

My guess is that all 700 will appear and then launch into a massive demonstration within the building....with a thousand-odd cops there to attempt to take down the mayors.  Outside the structure?  I'll bet at least 20,000 locals are prepared for the cops.  All of this will be captured via live-feed and go out to the public.  Instead of settling things or calming things down....it's only going to pump up the anti-federal government trend, and lead onto more hostility.

This vote....only two weeks away....is going to be fairly interesting to watch.  But the actions of the 700 mayors?  It'll make the effort iron-clad to occur now, in my humble opinion.