FORMER Scottish Parliament presiding officer Tricia Marwick and MSP Sandra White have revealed the “emotional” moment Catalan voters thanked them for “safeguarding” their polling station.
The pair were among several prominent Scots political figures who acted as international observers during the independence referendum.
They revealed how those running the polling station where they were placed urged them not to leave for fear of a disruptive raid by Spanish military police.
They also told how they were left in tears after citizens cheered “thank you Scotland” after the school was untouched, claiming this was due to the women’s presence.
Marwick said she was “greetin” as she left for the night, tweeting: “People were begging us not to leave them.
“They were convinced that because we were there they wouldn’t be attacked by Spanish police. We promised them we would not leave them. We promised we would stay with them till the very end. We did. That’s why they cheered us when we left.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon says 2 million Catalan votes for independence cannot be ignored
White, who returned to her Glasgow Kelvin constituency yesterday, has submitted a motion at Holyrood condemning the “brutal actions of the Spanish police” and calling on the European Union to suspend Spain for breaking rules against any state “using military forces on its own population”.
She told The National how they had spent 12 hours in the school from 8am to 8pm.
White described how the vote was carried out in a state of siege, with members of the public standing guard outside in the rain to ward off the kind of police attacks that saw ballot boxes confiscated elsewhere and unarmed people assaulted.
She revealed how panic gripped the polling station several times throughout the day as staff monitored social media for police threats to its security.
White said: “In the last hour, they were counting down the minutes. People were sweating, saying ‘I think they are going to come now’.
“One hour previously they had seen Spanish police at the bottom of the road. We thought they were going to come round the back. Three out of four schools in the area were raided.
“But it was all very professionally conducted. People turned up saying they had voted elsewhere but their ballot boxes had been taken, and were told they could not have a second vote.
“As we came out after the polls closed, they were all cheering, saying ‘thank you Scotland’. It was very emotional.”
News of the violence meted out to ordinary voters sent shockwaves around the world. White said: “Throughout the day, you could feel the tension. People were openly weeping. They couldn’t believe the violence.”
White said voters on both the Si and No sides were united in their response to the Madrid-ordered crackdown.
She added: “We spoke to a number of No voters, and there was no animosity. People were just saying ‘we want to vote’.
“Older people who had lived through Franco were saying ‘Franco lives’.”
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