Students protest outside the public Barcelona University, Spain Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Around two thousand students have gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling to end the crackdown on a referendum on Catalonia's secession that has met a fierce opposition by Spanish central authorities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
MADRID (AP) - Spain will deploy police reinforcements to Catalonia to help maintain order if an independence referendum pledged by Catalan officials but opposed by the national government goes ahead, officials said Friday.
The measure came amid rising tension between Spanish and Catalan authorities over the planned Oct. 1 ballot.
Civil Guard police this week arrested around a dozen regional government officials and seized about 10 million ballot papers. Authorities in the wealthy northeastern region insist the vote will take place, even though Spain's Constitutional Court has ordered it to be suspended and the Madrid-based national government insists it is illegal.
An Interior Ministry statement said the extra agents would provide backing for the Catalan regional police, who are also under orders to prevent the staging of the referendum.
The statement said the Catalan Interior Ministry had been informed. It did not say how many extra police would be sent. Three ferries docked at Barcelona's port will provide accommodation for the extra officers.
Also Friday, a Catalan regional judge ordered the release with restrictions of six people arrested Wednesday in a crackdown on referendum preparations. A statement said the six declined to testify.
They remain under investigation for disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement in relation to the planned ballot and must appear before the court each week.
Hundreds of pro-independence supporters had protested outside the courthouse to demand the officials' release.
The protest in the northeastern Catalan town of Hospitalet de Llobregat was an extension of another started Thursday outside the Catalan judiciary headquarters in nearby Barcelona that attracted thousands. A pro-independence group says that about 2,500 supporters were attending the protest in Hospitalet.
"I feel the way people used to feel during Franco regime. Nothing less. Because Francoism is still alive," said protester Josep Selva, referring to Gen. Francisco Franco's military regime that ruled Spain between 1939 and 1978, three years after his death.
"The political reform of 1978 only legalized Francoism and disguised it as democracy," he said.
Many of the demonstrators in Barcelona had slept overnight near the judiciary building in tents, sleeping bags or hammocks strung up between lampposts.
Meanwhile, around 2,000 students gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling for an end to the national government's crackdown. They carried pro-independence flags and banners supporting the ballot. They occupied a central cloister near the offices of the dean and other university officials. Student union representatives urged the protesters to remain over the weekend.
Spain's central government says the planned referendum violates Spain's constitution. The Constitutional Court has ordered it suspended while it studies its legality.
Catalonia represents a fifth of Spain's 1.1-trillion-euro ($1.32 trillion) economy and enjoys wide self-government. The region has about 5.5 million eligible voters. Polls consistently show the region's inhabitants favor holding a referendum but are roughly evenly divided over independence from Spain.
Students, on of them with the map of Catalonia tattooed on her arm, shout slogans supporting the Oct. 1 vote during a protest inside the public Barcelona University, Spain Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Around two thousand students have gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling to end the crackdown on a referendum on Catalonia's secession that has met a fierce opposition by Spanish central authorities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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People display''estelada'' or Catalonia independence flags during a gathering to protest the judicial and police operation against the planned October 1 independence referendum in Catalonia, at Plaza del Ayuntamiento square in Pamplona, northern Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. The Catalan regional government says that a top official in the management of the region's economic affairs has been arrested as a crackdown intensifies on preparations for a secession vote that Spanish authorities have suspended. (Alvaro Barrientos)
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Students shout slogans supporting the Oct. 1 vote during a protest in Barcelona, Spain Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Around two thousand students have gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling to end the crackdown on a referendum on Catalonia's secession that has met a fierce opposition by Spanish central authorities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
Students shout slogans supporting the Oct. 1 vote during a protest inside the public Barcelona University, Spain Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Around two thousand students have gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling to end the crackdown on a referendum on Catalonia's secession that has met a fierce opposition by Spanish central authorities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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People sleep on the ground during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the night at the gates of Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence that Spanish central authorities are challenging as illegal. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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People sleep on the ground during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the night at the gates of Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence that Spanish central authorities are challenging as illegal. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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People sleep on hammocks during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the night at the gates of Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence that Spanish central authorities are challenging as illegal. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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A man wearing an estelada, or independence flag, stands in front of the Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the night at the gates of Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence that Spanish central authorities are challenging as illegal. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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People sleep on the ground covered with estelada or independence flags, during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the night at the gates of Catalonia's judiciary body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence that Spanish central authorities are challenging as illegal. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
Students protest outside the public Barcelona University, Spain Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Around two thousand students have gathered around and inside one of Barcelona's main universities calling to end the crackdown on a referendum on Catalonia's secession that has met a fierce opposition by Spanish central authorities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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