Violent scenes in Catalan referendum were not the return of Spain’s Francoist police

Abstract

First paragraph: The heavy-handed police intervention against the Catalan nationalists during the unilateral referendum on October 1 produced some shocking images: police in riot gear beating unarmed protesters and seizing ballot boxes. Five days later Madrid was making conciliatory gestures, with government undersecretary for Catalonia Enric Millo apologising for the behaviour of some police officers, saying: "When I see these images, and more so when I know people have been hit, pushed and even one person hospitalised, I can’t help but regret it and apologise on behalf of the officers that intervened."  Spain is a relatively young democracy – less than 40 years old – and many still remember Spain under General Franco, who came to power through the merciless 1936-1939 civil war and ruled until his death in 1975. The association with the events of last week are unavoidable: are the Francoist police back?