On October 1st the Catalonian government held a referendum for independence which resulted in an overwhelming majority of participating voters favoring secession from Spain. Despite opposition within the Catalan parliament and the Spanish national government deeming the referendum illegal, 2.2 million of 5.3 million Catalans turned out to vote.

On September 20th the Spanish government ordered raids on Catalonian state offices resulting in the arrest of 14 people preparing the referendum. On the day of the vote members of the Guardia Civil, the national paramilitary police force, used violent...