"The streets will always be ours" - Catalonia, a referendum from below

Although some still conceive of the referendum as launched by a pro-independence vanguard, the elite story falls short of explaining the resilient participation of a large part of Catalan civil society.

Pro-Separatists of the Catalonian independence referendum protest during a general strike in Barcelona, Spain, October 3, 2017. Almagro/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images. All rights reserved.The fallout from the massive voting performance in Catalonia last Sunday and its violent repression by the Spanish authorities continues to reverberate across Europe.

Although it caught many outsiders by surprise, this clash was in the making for some time. The vote confirmed the resurgence of grassroots engagement in the recent cycle of mobilization for self-determination in Catalonia. It represents another clear example of a mass politics that transcends parties and institutions.

Since the last regional elections in 2015, the governing pro-independence coalition in Catalonia has been rooted in its promise to organise a binding referendum on independence and its commitment to a unilateral declaration of independence if it obtained more than 50% in favour.