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As Catalonian separatists vowed Saturday to ignore a police ultimatum to disband their occupation of schools to be used in a vote seeking independence from Spain, a group of separatist politicians from Quebec were among the international observers.

The police deadline of 6 a.m. Sunday for the activists, parents and children to vacate the occupied Catalan schools is designed to prevent the vote from taking place, since the polls are supposed to open three hours later.

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Spain’s constitutional court suspended the independence vote more than three weeks ago and the national government calls it illegal. Police have been ordered to stop ballots from being cast on Sunday and have been cracking down for days, confiscating millions of ballots and posters.

Among the many international observers who have travelled to Spain for the referendum are Parti Québécois MNA Stéphane Bergeron, former Québec solidaire leader Manon Massé, Bloc Québécois leader Martine Ouellet, OUI-Québec president Claudette Carbonneau and Montreal Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society president Maxime Laporte.