The Spanish Civil Guard has asked 31 town councils for information about documentation related to the organisation of the 1st October referendum at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, according to several sources. Among the town halls where agents of the police have presented themselves this Saturday are those of Oliana, Tàrrega, Alpicat and Almacelles, all of them in the province of Lleida in the west of Catalonia.
Specifically, they are asking the secretaries for copies of the documents in support of the referendum they have drafted. They also ask for all documentation about using official premises as polling stations.
The information request comes in the last days of the police and legal siege of Catalonia, at all levels, from the central government to the smallest municipality. More than 700 mayors have to testify to the Public Prosecutor after having expressed their intention to offer support and official premises for the 1st October referendum. Today, several are scheduled to testify, like the mayor of Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Josep Caparrós, and that of Deltebre, Lluís Soler. The mayor of Tortosa, Ferran Bel, will do so in Madrid thanks to his parliamentary privilege from being a deputy in the Spanish Congress.
712 mayors
The Civil Guard's order centres on documents supporting the referendum signed by mayors and town councillors all over Catalonia, not just from the 31 town councils asked for information today, but from a total of 712 municipalities currently being investigated by the Public Prosecutor.
Entry in Oliana
Agents arrived at the town hall in Oliana at 9:45am this morning, according to the village's mayor, Miquel Sala.
The Civil Guard presented themselves being a warrant from Lleida's public prosecutor for the secretary's office for documentation related to 1st October. At that time, Sala, the first of all the mayors to be summoned to court, wasn't at the town hall, as he was in the court in Seu d'Urgell giving his support to the mayor of Bellver de Cerdanya.
This was the first time the Civil Guard entered a town hall looking for 1st October documents and they left without taking anything.
In Tarragona via fax
On the other hand, several local councils in Tarragona received orders, via fax, requiring them to provide all their documentation related to the potential opening of town property as polling stations.
The subpoena asks the councils to also provide copies of any decrees they might have passed giving support to the referendum or other resolutions or legal reports linked to the polling stations.