While well written, it does not attempt justify Spain's physical (police) response to prevent the vote, over a legal (court) response to nullify the vote, which I suspect is the issue most people have with Spain's response (it is certainly what I take offense to), save the following tu quoque:

> One more thing to consider: three years ago, the separatist Catalan government authorised police force to stop a popular “multireferendum” about a number of social issues in Catalonia, confiscating ballot boxes. Clearly, the Catalan leaders do not think that casting a ballot is always okay.

In fact, the piece goes so far as to call the physical response justified:

> Hundreds or thousands of elected officials and public servants in Catalonia are disobeying the law, perverting justice, defying judges and diverting funds for the “referendum”. They had to be stopped, thus the few detentions (all mandated by independent judges who are acting well within the law). That is no excessive use of force.

Good. Let them. The act of hosting a vote does not physically harm anyone, it does not "have to be stopped". Indict the officials who are in breach of the law afterward.