The preliminary results of the Catalan referendum have shown that 90 percent are in favour of independence from the rest of Spain.
The referendum was followed by major riots, resulting in 844 people and 33 police who were hurt.
“On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia’s citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic,” said Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s regional leader.
“My government, in the next few days, will send the results of [the] vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum.”
The European Commission released a statement about the violence following the referendum.
“Violence can never be an instrument in politics. We trust the leadership of prime minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein.”
With 90 percent of ballots voting in favour of independence, eight percent voted against with the remaining two percent of ballots blank or void.
This is an increase compared to results of the symbolic referendum, which took place three years ago. In this vote, 80 percent of people who took part voted in favour of independence.
Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s Prime Minister, said: “Today there has not been a self-determination referendum in Catalonia. The rule of law remains in force with all its strength. We are the government of Spain and I am the head of the government of Spain and I accepted my responsibility.
“We have done what was required of us. We have acted, as I have said from the beginning, according to the law and only according to the law. And we have shown that our democratic state has the resources to defend itself from an attack as serious as the one that was perpetrated with this illegal referendum. Today, democracy has prevailed because we have obeyed the constitution.”