The Spanish administration on Tuesday started cracking down on preparations to hold an independence referendum for the autonomous community of Catalonia, reported AFP.

Spanish security forces were deployed to neutralise polling stations across the region seeking independence from the country. The chief prosecutor in Catalonia ordered the police to seal buildings designated as polling stations for the October 1 referendum. Spain’s interior minister also put Catalonia’s regional police force under his ministry’s supervision.

The move follows United States President Donald Trump’s joint statement with the nation’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Washington urging Catalans to stay with Spain. “You are talking about staying with a truly great, beautiful and very historic country,” Trump had said. The Spanish prime minister asked Catalan officials to return to “common sense” while Trump dubbed any attempts to separate from Spain as a foolish step.

The rift

Tensions between Madrid and Catalonia have been high since the Spanish government blocked Barcelona’s planned referendum to split from it. On September 6, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont had signed a decree that called for a “self-determination referendum of Catalonia”. But the next day, Spain’s Constitutional Court suspended the referendum after a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Spain said it was contrary to the Constitution.