At the end of a Sunday full of tensions, punctuated by strong clashes between demonstrators and the Spanish police with a toll of 844 injured (including 19 agents), 2 million and 200 thousand Catalans out of a total of 5 million (that is, less than half) voted in the referendum and 90%, predictably, said yes to independence. This is the outcome of the controversial Catalan referendum which, according to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is "illegal and unconstitutional", took place without the slightest democratic guarantees and in the end was nothing more than "a scene".
The tension between Madrid and Barcelona therefore remains very high even if the head of government has said that the door to dialogue is always open "but in compliance with the law" which does not provide for the independence of Catalonia.
But now what will happen? For tomorrow, the separatists have proclaimed a general strike "against the repression of the Spanish state" but whether and how to proceed on the road to independence will only be decided in the next few days. It is up to the Catalan Parliament to decide and the Catalan president Puigdemont said yesterday evening that he will forward the result of the referendum to the region's Parliament so that it "acts as required by law" and invited Europe "not to look the other way".
The battle between Madrid and Barcelona therefore remains very open but after Sunday's clashes "the negotiation has become impossible" claims the Catalan president. Today Rajoy will gather the parliamentary groups to decide the next moves, knowing that Europe is at his side but a way out is hard to find.
