Yes, the Spanish government sent the Spanish police to beat up the Catalans who were going to cast their vote in a ballot box. More than two million Catalans voted Yes to independence, but the Catalan government, seeing the antidemocratic and violent attitude of the Spanish government, decided to put the declaration of independence on hold to avoid a bloodbath, and wait for a more favorable moment (a more democratic and less violent Spanish government) to continue with the process.
Since 2017 the legitimate President of Catalonia (Carles Puigdemont) has been in exile in Brussels along with other members of his government, and those who did not go into exile have been in prison since then... just for putting ballot boxes! All very democratic: in the XXI century, a European state like Spain that is supposed to be democratic (but still has too many links with the 40 years of Franco's dictatorship) has political prisoners, and Europe allows it... What a shame!
Since then, in all the elections that have been held in Catalonia, the pro-independence parties have won. Sooner or later they will have to let us hold an agreed referendum, like it was done in Scotland, and as on October 1st 2017, the Yes to Catalonia being a new state -in the form of a republic- in Europe will win again... independent as before 1714, when Spain conquered Catalonia by force after a long and bloody war. The idea is that the independence of Catalonia, more than 300 years after losing it, can be achieved peacefully and democratically, simply by voting
I'm sorry for the political interruption, and we'd better keep talking about watches, but even though we are still forcibly held in Spain, the majority of Catalans feel part of a different country. That is why I always say that I am Catalan, not Spanish... it is only a matter of time before it becomes official and not only moral
