When the 1916 rising against British rule in Ireland took place, many of the defeated insurgents were booed on the streets of Dublin as they were led to imprisonment: Such was the popular anger at the damage their ill-planned adventure had caused to many lives and the city’s infrastructure.
And then the British started to execute some of the leaders, and the tide of public opinion turned.
It is doubtful whether Catalonian independence had the support of a majority of Catalonians prior to the referendum on the First of October 2017. But the sight of peaceful citizens seeking to vote being baton charged, beaten and shot with rubber bullets by riot police will change all of that.
Despite deploying 15,000 police from outside Catalonia and injuring over 800 people, the Spanish state managed to close only 300 out of 2,300 polling stations and could not prevent 2.3 Million people from casting their vote – a 42% turnout – despite confiscating many ballot boxes. Many Irish referenda have been passed with less.
90% voted for independence, a resounding response to the violence.
In one ill-considered act the Spanish state has ensured its own disintegration. Catalonia will now declare independence. If the Rajoy government seizes control and organised new elections, they will be won by separatists. In the words of WB Yeats all is “changed, changed utterly: a terrible beauty is born.”