It’s all illegal! That’s Madrid’s position on the referendum in Catalonia. Of about 5.5 million eligible voters, about 2.4 million chose–or were able–to cast ballots. 90% of them voted in favor of independence from Spain.

Spanish courts have ruled, and leaders have repeated, that the country’s Constitution does not allow a region to separate. European Union courts have echoed this position.

Of course, Spain’s response to the vote was completely legal. This involved sending police into the region to close polling stations, seize ballots, and deliver some old-fashioned fascist beatings. But it was all to protect democracy, naturally.

The response of the Spanish government is perplexing. They basically strengthened the resolve of the Catalans to remove themselves from an aggressive and violent subjugator. The Spanish government’s response was reminiscent of military dictator Francisco Franco’s suppression of the Catalan language and culture prior to his death in 1975.

Through their actions to stop the referendum, they showed exactly why Catalonia would want to be independent of Spain.