Rajoy’s Legal Defenses Breached as Mas Unleashes Voters

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s plan to use the Spanish constitution to stop Catalans from voting on independence failed as regional officials defied the government, the state prosecutor and the nation’s highest court to hold the ballot.

More than 2 million Catalans voted in a ballot the Constitutional Court had ruled illegal with 81 percent backing independence, the regional government said early today. Catalan President Artur Mas took responsibility for the vote and challenged federal authorities to sanction him while regional police ignored orders from the state prosecutor to identify officials responsible for opening polling sites.