German chancellor Angela Merkel called the then-Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, during last year's Catalan referendum. With the repression seen that day, she made it clear that "Europe cannot accept police brutality", the Catalan ombudsman Rafael Ribó has revealed in an interview with Scottish newspaper The National.
Ribó says he has proof of the call, although not a recording of the conversation. "On October 1 – when the police were acting brutally – we have proof that Merkel called Rajoy saying Europe couldn’t accept this", they quote him as saying. He admits he doesn't have a tape of the conversation, but notes that "suddenly at around 1-2pm everything stopped".
“The Spanish police started at 9 o’clock in such brutal fashion in different parts of the territory", he explains, arguing that if they wanted to stop the referendum from being successful, they would have "no reason" to stop before polling stations closed, having started first thing in the morning, rather than stopping at lunchtime.
The ombudsman says it's the only time they have evidence of "a connection between European and Spanish politicians" on the matter.
The National recalls that Ribó produced a report on the violation of basic rights and freedoms around the referendum and the intervention by the central government in Catalonia, which he will present to judges specialising in human rights in Strasbourg next Tuesday.