#Catalonia #referendum: #Spain steps up raids to halt vote http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41331152
Spanish police have detained 14 Catalan officials and raided regional government ministries involved in organising an independence vote declared illegal by Spain's government.
Tensions were already high before Josep Maria Jové, number two in the Catalan vice-presidency, and others were held.
Thousands of Catalans took to the streets in protest and the region's
president complained of a power grab. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoy said the state had been forced to act. The region's separatist
government is defying an order by Spain's Constitutional Court to
suspend the 1 October referendum law passed by the Catalan parliament
last month.
A sea of protesters filled the Gran Via and other streets as police searched the Catalan economy ministry
