BARCELONA, Spain — More than 700 mayors from Catalonia met Saturday in Barcelona in a show of strength amid pressure from Spain’s central government not to hold an independence referendum for the northeastern region.

Political tensions in Spain are increasing as the proposed voting date of Oct. 1 nears. The Catalan government has been scrambling to push forward the vote, despite the central government’s warnings that local municipalities are not allowed to use public buildings for it and mayors can be legally prosecuted for it.

Hundreds of mayors stood Saturday next to regional President Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau in Barcelona, the capital and main city in the region.

“We will not be intimidated. This is not about independence, it’s about our rights,” said Colau.

Puigdemont thanked the mayors for not backing down and insisted that most Catalans are determined to press ahead despite the ban.

“Do not underestimate the Catalan people,” he warned.

Catalonia’s regional police force is under orders to arrest the mayors if they refuse to appear for questioning in an investigation into the vote, which Spain’s constitutional court has suspended, State Prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza’s office said. The order puts regional police in the uneasy position of carrying out commands from Madrid in their own towns and cities.

If mayors and their municipalities cannot help organize the balloting, the independence vote is unlikely to proceed.

On Friday, Spain’s central authorities announced they have increased their control over Catalonia’s regional spending to make sure that no funds are diverted to paying for the independence referendum

The prosperous Catalonia region generates a fifth of the country’s 1.1-trillion euro economy. It enjoys ample self-government, running its own police, and has considerable powers over health and education. Taxes, foreign affairs, defence and infrastructures are in the hands of Spain’s central authorities.</s>MADRID — Catalan officials are addressing a letter to Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy calling for negotiations to agree on a referendum on the northeastern region’s independence.

Spanish officials have rejected the unilateral vote planned for Oct. 1. Rajoy has said that a constitutional reform through a strong majority in the national parliament is the only avenue for a legal referendum.

Separatist politicians launched the Yes campaign on Thursday as they press ahead with the vote despite a ban by the country’s courts and a criminal investigation into three out of four Catalan mayors actively supporting it.

In the letter, President Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau also say that Spain has launched “an offensive of repression without precedent.”

The letter says a copy is being sent to King Felipe VI.</s>TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Spain’s public prosecutor on Wednesday ordered a criminal probe of over 700 Catalan mayors who are cooperating with an October 1 independence referendum deemed illegal by Madrid.

The move increases the pressure on Catalan officials just one day before the pro-separatist camp officially kicks off its referendum campaign in the Mediterranean port of Tarragona, AFP reported.

Furious at the decision to instigate a probe, Catalan municipal associations called on all the region’s mayors to protest in Barcelona on Saturday to show their “rejection of a Spanish judicial system that goes after the media, ballot papers, ballot boxes… and now mayors”.

The prosecutors’ office ordered the mayors who have agreed to help stage the vote be summoned to court as official suspects and if they do not appear to “order their arrest”, according to a copy of the ruling.

Pro-independence Catalan president Carles Puigdemont dubbed the move an “atrocity scarcely worthy of a democracy”, and said he would attend Saturday’s protest.

Catalonia’s pro-separatist government has asked the wealthy northeastern region’s 948 mayors to provide facilities for polling stations for the plebiscite.

So far 712 mostly smaller municipalities have agreed to participate, according to a list posted on the website of Catalonia’s Municipal Association for Independence (AMI) which represents 750 municipalities.

“They can arrest us! They’re crazy!,” David Rovira, the pro-separatist mayor of L’Espluga de Francoli, a town of some 3,800 residents, told AFP by phone, adding that Madrid had “proposed nothing” to appease Catalonia’s demands for greater autonomy.

Jordi Turull, spokesman for the Catalan government, told reporters that the executive would support the region’s mayors and would “respect their decision”.</s>More than 700 mayors from Catalonia are meeting in Barcelona in a show of strength amid pressure from Spain’s central government not to hold an independence referendum for the northeastern region that has been deemed illegal by the courts.

Political tensions in Spain are increasing as the proposed voting date of Oct. 1 nears. The Catalan government has been scrambling to push forward the vote, despite the central government’s warnings that local municipalities are not allowed to use public buildings for it and mayors can be legally prosecuted for it.

Hundreds of mayors stood Saturday next to regional President Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau.

Puigdemont thanked them for not backing down and insisted that most Catalans are determined to press ahead with the referendum despite the ban.</s>Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has taken to Twitter to explain how voters can use proxies to access the referendum instruction website ahead of the controversial vote on October 1.

The official website for the Catalonia independence referendum was blocked in Spain on Wednesday following a Barcelona court order amid the Spanish government’s ongoing efforts to stop what it calls an“illegal” ballot.

READ MORE: ‘We will vote!’ Catalonia officially launches independence referendum campaign (VIDEO)

Puigdemont defiantly announced a new domain name for the site after telecommunication operators were ordered to shut down access.

He insisted that the campaign would continue, tweeting: “It’s impossible to stem the tide,” and sharing details of how users could circumvent the blockade.

One of his tweets directs people to three possible ways of accessing the website freely.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been vocal in his support for Catalan sovereignty, highlighting the independence struggle.

He earlier described Catalonia as being “the heart of the next great battle in cryptography”.

The Catalan regional government has approved a budget for quantum cryptography in its research and innovation program. In July, two Catalan government officials tested a video conference call using the groundbreaking encryption system.

READ MORE: Spain's state prosecutor orders probe into 700+ Catalan mayors for cooperating with referendum

On September 6, Catalonia’s Parliament passed a bill paving the way for an independence referendum to be held on October 1. The Spanish government, however, insist the proposed referendum is illegal. Spain's Constitutional Court has suspended the vote pending a formal decision by its judges.

Spain's state prosecutor has ordered a criminal investigation of 712 Catalan mayors for cooperating with the process. The prospect didn’t deter more than 700 Catalan mayors from marching in Madrid on Saturday.

Spain's paramilitary national police force said Sunday that it confiscated more than 1.3 million posters, flyers and pamphlets promoting the planned independence referendum.

A previous Catalan independence referendum held in 2014, which saw 80 percent of voters choose independence, was ruled unconstitutional by Madrid.</s>MADRID — Catalan officials are addressing a letter to Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy calling for negotiations to agree on a referendum on the northeastern region's independence.

Spanish officials have rejected the unilateral vote planned for Oct. 1. Rajoy has said that a constitutional reform through a strong majority in the national parliament is the only avenue for a legal referendum.

Separatist politicians launched the Yes campaign on Thursday as they press ahead with the vote despite a ban by the country's courts and a criminal investigation into three out of four Catalan mayors actively supporting it.

In the letter, President Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau also say that Spain has launched "an offensive of repression without precedent."</s>Catalan mayors facing arrest for backing an independence referendum Spain says is illegal have gathered for a rally in the regional capital, Barcelona.

Barcelona's mayoress, Ada Colau, and Catalan President Carles Puigdemont also attended the event at the Catalan government's headquarters where people chanted "votarem ("we will vote").</s>Spanish police on Sunday seized 1.3 million pamphlets and posters supporting Catalonia's independence referendum, the latest move to try to block the vote.

Catalonia's pro-separatist government is determined to hold a referendum on October 1, despite it being banned by Spain's Constitutional Court.

The documents were seized at an advertising distribution company near Barcelona, the Spanish interior ministry said in a statement.

Among the documents were about 700,000 leaflets promoting a "yes" vote in the referendum and 370,000 flyers with logo of the Catalan government along with 138,000 posters for the far-left Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party.

Faced with a determined Catalan government, Spain has multiplied its efforts to crack down on the referendum, having previously seized propaganda material and threatened to arrest Catalan mayors who allow the vote.

'We are not afraid'

Also on Sunday, hundreds of people attended a meeting in Madrid to show support for the referendum, some waving pro-independence leaflets.

The meeting was held in a small theatre in the central district of Lavapies after a court banned holding it in a cultural centre owned by the town hall.

"Faced with their ban, we are determined," Jordi Cuixart, head of Omnium Cultural, a Catalan cultural organisation, said to applause from the public inside and outside the theatre.

"We need your solidarity now more than ever. What we are experiencing today is a true breakdown of democratic process."

Outside the meeting, some chanted "Freedom of expression", "Right to decide" and "We are not afraid" under the watch of several police officers.

"This is no longer a question of Catalans and Spaniards, it is a question of the quality of our democracy," Maria Jose Hernandez, a 40-year-old old graphic designer, told AFP.

On Sunday, the newspaper El Pais called on famous personalities such as writer Javier Marias and actress Marisa Paredes to call for Catalans to abstain from what the newspaper dubbed an "anti-democratic swindle".

Catalan society is deeply divided on the subject of independence. A poll commissioned by the regional government in July showed 49.4 percent of Catalans were against independence while 41.1 percent were in favour.</s>MADRID — Catalan officials are addressing a letter to Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy calling for negotiations to agree on a referendum on the northeastern region's independence.

Spanish officials have rejected the unilateral vote planned for Oct. 1. Rajoy has said that a constitutional reform through a strong majority in the national parliament is the only avenue for a legal referendum.

Separatist politicians launched the Yes campaign on Thursday as they press ahead with the vote despite a ban by the country's courts and a criminal investigation into three out of four Catalan mayors actively supporting it.

In the letter, President Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau also say that Spain has launched "an offensive of repression without precedent."</s>Carlos Soler has been a passionate Barcelona fan for as long as he can remember. But then politics – and a divisive referendum on Catalan independence – got in the way.

A “lifelong Barcelona fan”, Carlos Soler was still a kid when he got his first job with the Blaugrana, as the Catalan club is commonly known. At 15, this passionate football fan was selling season tickets for the Camp Nou, Barcelona’s hallowed football ground. Two years later he moved to the stadium’s shop, before landing a desk job with the club’s youth teams.

Already, “they were telling me to speak Catalan if I wanted to move up", Soler, now aged 51, recalls. Founded in 1899, FC Barcelona have always stressed their Catalan identity, officially adopting the local language as early as 1910. Soler duly complied, though he never really understood why the club shunned Spanish. Born to a Catalan father and a Castilian mother, he grew up in Catalonia “but learnt Spanish at school”.

When he eventually stopped working at the club, “it was for professional reasons, because I wanted to do something else,” Soler says. But as the years went by he continued to follow the Blaugrana, sharing the passion with his son, now aged 13.

The fallout with Barcelona happened earlier this year, after a Copa del Rey match at the Camp Nou during which Spain’s King Felipe VI was booed by the crowd. “I found it insulting,” Soler says. “Why show such disrespect? Catalans are normally polite people.”

That’s when Soler flashed a red card at his childhood club. “Sport should be about fair play and the spirit of the Olympics, but Barcelona don’t play by those rules,” he sighs.

A few days before the match, the club had officially endorsed a bid by the Catalan regional government to hold a referendum on independence from Spain – a move the Spanish Constitutional Court has ruled illegal.

Barcelona are now dabbling in politics, says Soler, describing the club as a “mouthpiece for the pro-independence propaganda”. In doing so, he adds: "They forget that they also have supporters in Madrid, Andalusia and Galicia.”

During their team’s last Champions League match, against Juventus on Sept. 12, Barcelona fans held up a banner reading “Welcome to the Catalan Republic”, referring to the October 1 referendum. This kind of political message is banned from football stadiums under UEFA rules, and the Catalan club is regularly admonished by European football’s governing body.

“Politics should stay in the changing room,” says Soler, for whom a breakup of Spain is unthinkable. “I’m also Catalan, I love Barcelona, and I refuse to pay too much in tax,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean I want to leave Spain. [Catalans] already have everything: a language, an identity. What more do they want? Money. All this is about money, but it’s really not worth it.”

The estranged fan says he is not the only one to be disappointed with Barcelona, “though others manage to put the politics aside and focus only on the matches”. But, he adds, all true football fans know that the Catalan giants would be orphaned if deprived of their historic rivals in Madrid. “Without Real Madrid, Barcelona are nothing,” Soler points out. “And the reverse is also true.”
More than 700 Catalan mayors meet in Barcelona with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont to confirm their support for the October 1 independence referendum. Earlier this week, Spanish prosecutors warned that officials participating in this vote could be criminally charged.