Police have arrested 12 people in raids on offices of the regional government of Catalonia as a crackdown intensifies on the region's preparations for a secession vote that Spain says is illegal.
Spain's Europa Press news agency and other media outlets said the raids on Wednesday mostly targeted the region's economic and foreign departments as Spanish authorities worked to halt all preparatory moves for the planned October 1 referendum.
Hundreds of people gathered to protest the raids and shout pro-independence slogans outside offices in the region's capital, Barcelona.
The Catalan regional government confirmed Josep Maria Jove, secretary general of economic affairs, was among those arrested.
Police and judicial authorities would give no details on the operation, saying a judge has placed a secrecy order on it.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
An Interior Ministry statement said only that Civil Guard police were carrying out an operation to gather evidence as part of investigations into the referendum's preparations.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government is waging myriad legal battles to halt the referendum called by the pro-independence coalition ruling Catalonia.
Backed by most Spanish opposition parties, the government says the referendum violates the constitution and that if Catalonia wants a vote it must work to change the constitution first.
The Constitutional Court has ordered the vote to be suspended as it studies its legality, but Catalan officials say they will press ahead regardless.
