THOUSANDS of protesters took to the streets of Barcelona again yesterday demanding the release of Catalan government officials who had been arrested in police raids over the independence referendum scheduled for October 1.

The spontaneous gathering followed an overnight demonstration by around 20,000 people against the actions of the civil guard, who had raided more than 40 government offices and arrested 15 high-ranking Catalan officials, 12 of whom were still being held yesterday,

Jordi Sànchez, president of the Catalan National Assembly, told the crowd: “There is no democrat in Catalonia who is not embarrassed about what judges and Spain’s Guardia Civil did yesterday.

“After the despicable performance of the Spanish State against the Catalan government yesterday, they crossed all the acceptable lines, nothing will be the same from yesterday.”

The Catalan Government has insisted that the vote will go ahead on October 1, despite the “heavy-handed” tactics of Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government.

A cabinet spokesperson said “the material and operational part, the logistics,” will all be ready, adding: “Faced with a siege, we are much more motivated to vote.

“There is a solution for every problem. We have time. We’re faced with a state that is sweeping away all guarantees, but the most important thing is that everyone knows where they have to vote, that they feel called upon to vote and that they go en masse to take part in the October 1 vote.”

The Spanish Government’s delegate in Catalonia sought to shift the blame to the Catalan Government, saying the raids were merely the result of “very serious irresponsibility” of Carles Puigdemont’s executive.

A Spanish Government spokesperson said they had been ordered by a judge and not Rajoy’s cabinet.

Writing in an English daily, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont insisted that civil rights and self-determination were at the core of his government’s actions. “Our response has been peaceful, despite the heavy-handed tactics from central government, putting democracy and good humour at the forefront,” he said.

“All we want is to carry out the greatest expression of a free democracy, and vote on Catalonia’s future.

“This is not about independence, it is about fundamental civil rights, and the universal right of self-determination.

“The ruling by the court – whose current president is a former activist for Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party – showed contempt for the legitimacy of the statute of autonomy, which had been approved by both the Catalan and Spanish parliaments, and also by the Catalan citizens through a referendum.

“More than a million people marched against this annulment in Barcelona in July 2010. Since then, millions more Catalan citizens have taken peacefully to the streets in defence of self-rule and the right to decide on their political future.”

An opinion poll, meanwhile, indicated that while 90 per cent of Catalans approved the Spanish Constitution in the 1978 referendum, only 27.8 per cent would vote for it today.

The poll, for the Catalan newspaper ARA, said this result was a far cry from the 90.4 per cent support it had when it was passed in 1978 – a referendum that had a 67.91 per cent turnout in Catalonia.

ARA said the fact that less than a third of Catalans trusted the text wielded by the Spanish government to stop Catalonia’s independence process proves that, for most of them, the Spanish Constitution “is no longer a valid response”.

It also exposed the argument from Spanish nationalist parties that the charter had received “landslide” approval in Catalonia. ARA said its poll painted a depressing picture for supporters of a united Spain, with the constitution having very little support and the majority of Catalans not expecting a satisfactory response from any of Spain’s four main parties.