MAYORS of 712 towns, villages and cities in Catalunya have been ordered to appear in court for having agreed to provide polling stations on October 1 for the 'illegal' independence referendum.
José Manuel Maza, the State prosecutor, says if any of these mayors – who are based in all four of the region's provinces of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona – do not testify in court, he will order their arrest 'as soon as possible', probably before the voting takes place.
Maza says a letter signed by regional president Carles Puigdemont and deputy president Oriol Junqueras sent to all town councils in Catalunya have ordered them to provide venues for ballot boxes.
According to the prosecutor, if they did so, they would be 'committing a criminal offence'.
Among the 712 are the mayors of Manresa, Vic, Igualada, Vilafranca, Vilanova, Tortosa, Sitges, Reus, Cambrils, Amposta, Girona, Figueres, Olot, Balaguer, Les Borges Blanques, La Pobla de Segur, Solsona and Tàrrega.
Meanwhile, the government has blocked the referendum website created by the regional government – but Puigdemont has simply produced another one, which has gone live.
And spokespersons for 'minority' parties in Catalunya – PDeCat and ERC – plus Compromís in Valencia, the PNV and EH Bildu in the Basque Country, and Unidos Podemos at national level have called for Maza to appear in Parliament and explain his decision.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com