Almost six thousand university students had taken part in the unofficial referendum on the Spanish monarchy in Catalonia by 3:30pm today. The initiative, which started at the Autonomous University of Madrid, has spread to 33 universities around Spain. Today, for the first time, it reached Catalonia, seeing queues to vote throughout the morning.
Polling was open from 8am to 8pm in faculties of the University of Barcelona (UB) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). ESEIAAT, a school within the Polytechnic University of Catalonia will hold a vote tomorrow, Wednesday.
The question
The vote asks two questions: first, "are you in favour of abolishing the monarchy as a form of state and establishing the republic?" and second, if so, "are you in favour of opening constituent processes to decide on what type of republic?".
Polling stations were set up in the Jaume I and Roger de Llúria buildings on UPF's Ciutadella campus and in UB's Law and Economics Faculty and the Geography and History Faculty.
“A necessary consultation”
"It's a necessary and interesting consultation", that was how one of the volunteers working on one of the tables set up for voting described it. They continued that "we want to decide what type of state we want" and suggested that it's a "symptom and example that the youth isn't satisfied".
"The important thing is to mobilise the youth", said another volunteer, who called for it to go beyond the one-off vote. "It's necessary to pressure in the streets and generate mobilisations on all sides".
The volunteers say they don't know what will happen after the vote: "currently nothing has been discussed, but we've got the idea that, once all the referendums are done at the other universities, the results will be combined and something will be organised together".
By midday, there were roughly 700 votes in the ballot box on UB's Raval Campus. The volunteers there said that a majority of the voters are in favour of the abolition of the monarchy, but that there are some votes against too.
El Nacional was also able to speak with some of the voters. "I'll vote yes to the abolition of the monarchy because I believe it to be an anachronistic institution," one of the voters said. One of his friends said that they'll also vote yes, describing it as a vote "which should be held significantly in the whole of Spain". "We didn't vote for the '78 Constitution, we want to decide what kind of state we want," they added.
Mobile ballot boxes
As well as the voting tables described above, there were also mobile ballot boxes in other faculties to expand the vote's reach.
As for the electorate, it wasn't just current students eligible to vote, but also faculty, staff and alumni. After voters cast their ballots, their hands would be marked with permanent marker to avoid anyone voting more than once.
Success in Madrid
The vote follows a successful referendum on the same question held by students at the Autonomous University of Madrid. 7,300 people voted in that consultation of whom 83.68% were in favour of abolishing the monarchy and establishing a Spanish republic.