Spanish police crackdown on voters at Catalonia election

In another example of the power of the state, peaceful voters in Spain’s Catalonia region have been met harshly by police. The region was holding a peaceful vote for independence today, however Madrid ruled the vote illegal and has made various attempts at suppressing voters and closing poling booths.

Riot police clashed with voters in Barcelona and other towns and cities across Catalonia, and have left hundreds injured. Reports indicate that police beat demonstrators with sticks and fired rubber bullets into crowds. The clashes, which have been well-documented by journalists and members of the public on twitter, are resulting in public embarrassment for the government in Madrid. Vivid images of elderly Catalonian pensioners with blood streaming down their faces have appeared on the internet.

The Catalonian health ministry believe that 465 people have been injured during the demonstrations. According to the Guardian: 216 were hurt in Barcelona, 80 in Girona, 64 in Lleida, 53 in Terres de l’Ebre, 27 in Catalunya central and 25 in Tarragona.

What does this mean for the Euro?

That’s quiet a difficult question for answer at this stage. What we are seeing here is the state reinforcing it’s power, and essentially repressing rebellion. If this was the USA, it would be like Texas revolting and attempting to become it’s own country.

A country just can’t allow part of it to revolt due to the domino effect it could create, which would ultimately undermine the entire country itself. Similar to the way that Greece was kept in the European Union, Spain will do everything in it’s power to keep Catalonia.

This could well be the return of political instability to the Euro. If that’s the case, further weakness in both European equities and the Euro should follow.