Spanish police have seized more than a million pro-referendum posters and pamphlets in Catalonia, according to government officials.
Authorities claimed the 1.3 million prints, which included about 700,000 leaflets promoting a “yes” vote in the region’s planned vote on independence, from a warehouse near Barcelona on Sunday.
“The proceedings were carried out during the morning of today [Sunday] and are the result of investigations carried out by the Civil Guard of Catalonia for the localisation of materials that promote the referendum suspended by the Constitutional Court,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
“This is the largest intervention of this illegal material made so far. Altogether, almost one and a half million materials to promote the illegal referendum, as well as printing plates, have been used so far,” it added.
Catalonia’s regional government plans to hold a vote on independence on October 1 despite Spain’s Constitutional Court having ruled the ballot illegal on the basis it defies the nation’s constitutional decree declaring Spain indivisible.