Catalans have reacted defiantly after Spain’s pledge to block an independence referendum in Catalonia, which was announced for November 9 2014 yesterday.
Speaking to Russia Today, Miquel Strubell, member of a pro-independence grassroots organization, the Catalan National Assembly, said the Spanish state has to open negotiations with Catalonia.
"If Spanish tanks rumbled into Barcelona, like they did in 1939, there wouldn't be enough tanks to go around. There wouldn't be enough soldiers to go around. Spain, being a modern country, has drastically reduced its armed forces,
“I think most of my colleagues would agree that this isn't about money. It's about a much more basic issue of running our own things. It's all been on the cards for years. It all started before 2003, which is well before the economic crisis,
"We expect to open negotiations with Madrid. The Spanish state can't be blind about it," he said.
Elisenda Paluzie, professor of economics at the University of Barcelona, questioned how Spain was going to stop the vote.
“They will have to show how they are going to prevent a vote from happening,
“What are they going to do? Will they send the police to the polling stations? It's up to them to show what kind of democracy they support."