All democratic parties should support Catalonia's right to vote.

  On Monday I criticised the Mayor of Barcelona for refusing   refused to let its voting centres in the Catalan capitol  be used for the ballot opposed by the national government.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau told Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont in a letter Friday she couldn’t allow use of the centres until he could outline plans for protecting public employees from the consequences of working on the vote, according to El Pais. 

Michael Haggett of the Syniadau  Blog commented

 I wouldn't want to be categorical, Glyn, but look closely at the form of words Ada Colau used. She said, "UNTIL he could outline plans for protecting public employees from the consequences of working on the vote".

With the Spanish authorities using the threat of various forms of legal action against anyone and everyone involved in the referendum, one of the characteristics of the movement has been to keep them in the dark for as long as possible, and only act at the last moment. I therefore half-suspect that the assurance she is looking for will come, but perhaps not until a few days before the actual vote. I can't be sure, though.

It's true that most mayors in Catalunya have made a very public show of support for the referendum, but the circumstances of a large cities like Barcelona are understandably different from those of the smaller municipalities, not least because they have hundreds, if not thousands, of employees.

I must  admit Mike appears to be correct   because Mayor Coalau  joined Catalan supporters of the region's right to hold a referendum on independence from Spain in  a rally backing more than 700 mayors facing the threat of arrest.
 She said. 

"It's a disgrace that we have a government that is incapable of dialogue and instead dedicates itself to pursuing and intimidating mayors and the media,

Ms Colau announced on Thursday that people in Barcelona would be able to vote without civil servants involved risking their jobs but did not explain how. 

Many  of the mayors gathered with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont outside the headquarters of the regional government, the Generalitat Palace, as supporters waved the lone-star flag of the independence movement.

"We stand firm against threats, censorship and prosecution and repeat this: we want to be a free country," Mr Puigdemont told the crowd, according to a tweet by the Catalan National Assembly grassroots independence movement.
Chants of "We will vote" could be heard from the crowd.

Apart from Plaid  and the SNP there sems to be little support from mainstream European Parties. who were so enthusiastic  about restoration of the Independence of the Baltic states in 1991.

But even if they do not support a YES vote in Catalonia surely they should be supporting the people of that Region Nation right to decide.

Maybe they agree with former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw  who  said the Union should be permanently enshrined in law to prevent Scottish independence.

Writing in the Times after the Scottish Independence referemdum  the MP for Blackburn said Britain follow the example of the US and India and make the Union "indissoluble"

.

He said a No vote should be seen as being "for good", just as a Yes vote would have been.

The Spanish Government  of course are using this argument that it is in their constitution that Spain was  "indissoluble"  to deny the people of Catalonia the right to vote on Independence and to use such heavy handed  tactics against those trying to conduct the referendum.

I await Jeremy Corbyn and other Labour politicians to criticise the Spanish Goverment  for thier attack on Catalan Democracy.

Of course a YES vote  which may well be overwhelming as those who intended to vote NO react  against  the Spanish Government may be a domino effect and we will see the  Basque, Flemings and particularly Scottish  people following.

Who knows even Cymru may come to the conclusion we can set our own destiny!   

But whatever its time the World governments  acknowledged  that Spain is behaving like a pictorial power  and recognise Catalonia's right to vote.