It has been a dramatic few days in Catalan politics. Brutal repression met this weekend’s independence referendum — deemed illegal by the Spanish state — with over 800 injured in a crackdown by riot police.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was unmoved by international media condemnation, denying a referendum had taken place despite more than two million ballots being cast. The events, he said, were “repugnant acts against democrats.”

Madrid’s right-wing Partido Popular (PP) government looks set to continue its intransigent approach to the separatist movement, hoping it will ignite Spanish nationalist sentiments and place the country’s Left in a difficult position. Already, leading Catalan independence figures have been arrested and charged with sedition.