A HIGH ranking Catalan Government official was forced to abandon a trip to Scotland as part of an independence referendum campaign following raids in Spain aimed at halting the vote.
Marina Falco, the Director of Foreign Relations at the government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to be the main speaker at a meeting in Glasgow on Thursday night which encouraged Scots to "stand up for Catalonia".
But Ms Falco, who was to be the Catalan government's representative at the meeting, had to pull out following Wednesday's Spanish police raids of regional government ministries involved in organising the independence vote declared illegal by Spain's government. Some 14 Catalan officials were arrested, including Josep Maria Jové, number two in the Catalan vice-presidency.
Thousands of Catalans took to the streets in protest and the region's president Carles Puigdemont complained of a power grab.
It came a week after Spain's public prosecutor summoned more than 700 Catalan mayors to appear for questioning over their support for the banned independence referendum.
The region's separatist government is defying an order by Spain's Constitutional Court to suspend the October 1 referendum law passed by the Catalan parliament last month.
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The Catalonia's Right To Decide meeting in Glasgow had been jointly organised by Catalonian Government foreign ministry officials, who believe Scots are more receptive and curious to what is happening in the region in the wake of the nation's own independence debate.
A Catalan Government source said: "She would have explained the latest decisions that the Catalan Government and the Catalan Parliament has taken and why from our point of view we had to go down this route.
"However her diary changed due to the events of Wednesday and that’s why she will not be able to travel to Glasgow to attend the event."
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David McDonald, the SNP deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, told the 150 gathered for the meeting at the Glasgow City Chambers that the events of Wednesday "don't sit well with anyone with democracy at heart".
One of the speakers, Glasgow Kelvin MSP Sandra White who urged people to support the people of Catalonia who had backed the Scottish independence campaign added: "It's a case of absolute fascism coming from Spain. They are returning to the Franco days."
Earlier a gathering of around 200 protesters gathered in Buchanan Street in Glasgow for an "emergency rally" to "stand with Catalonia".
While Ms Falco could not come to Scotland, she did register her approval of a letter signed by 18 MPs, including 15 from the SNP, and three peers, describing the events of Wednesday as an "affront to democracy".
The letter from supporters of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Catalonia said: "We believe...hat the democratic way to proceed would for opponents of Catalan independence to campaign for their position in the referendum. That was the stance of the UK government in respect of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014.
"This referendum was democratically agreed to by the Catalan Parliament. To attempt to impede or stop it through sanctions, criminal charges and direct action by the Spanish state is an affront to democracy and threatens to embitter relations between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
"We call on the Spanish Government to allow this democratic test of Catalan opinion to go ahead on October 1 without further hindrance."
Ms Falco, the former president of Catalans UK thanked the group for their "commitment with democracy."
Wednesday's operation targeted over 40 ministries and offices as well as three private companies in what has been described as an intensification of Spain's attempt to stop the vote taking place.
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