A woman rebukes the National Police during the Catalan referendum, on October 1st 2017. Photo by Vicens Forner Puig, with with permission. With hashtags like #votarem (“we will vote”), citizens with the right to vote in Catalonia, a region in northeast Spain, published their photos and stories on social media while they participated in a controversial referendum on independence. The vote on 1 October was deemed illegal by the central government in Madrid, which considers it unconstitutional. Catalonia's current independence process started in 2012, when the Catalan Parliament resolved to request authorisation from the government in Madrid to hold a referendum on self-determination. Despite Madrid's continuous rejection, supported by the country's Constitutional Court, the Catalan government unilaterally decided to call a non-binding consultation in 2014, and, finally, the referendum on 1 October. While public TV channels and other mass media outlets were criticised for their coverage of events, every minute of election day could be followed on social media, which was filled with excited testimonies, people who spent the night outside the polling booths to prevent them being shut down, or videos of long queues and people waiting for hours to vote. Images of elderly people entering or leaving the voting booths amid applause from their neighbours were particularly popular. Their key role throughout the process led to slogans such as “sense les àvies no hi ha revolució” (“without grandmothers there is no revolution”) or “nuestros abuelos no se tocan” (“hands off our grandparents”). En moments de tanta repressió, hi ha determinacions que alleugeren #Votarem#Santspic.twitter.com/Six1QMZBJR — Gemma Garcia (@gemma_g_fabrega) October 1, 2017 In moments of so much repression, determination like this is a relief. The violent actions of the state's security forces were without a doubt one of the most debated subjects, from videos of buses full of police leaving from Cordoba, on the other side of the country, to images of Basque firemen who traveled to join Catalan firemen in defending the polls. The debate over if the repression was justified, and whether the referendum was illegal, was a fiery one. Catalans were not the only people reacting to violence with indignation. For example, in a viral tweet, Patricia Horrillo, an activist and journalist in Madrid, argued that criticism of police repression should be independent of personal political views: Puedes no estar de acuerdo con el independentismo, pero si ves las imágenes de la represión policial de hoy y no te escandalizas, míratelo. — Patricia Horrillo (@PatriHorrillo) October 1, 2017 You may not agree with the independence movement, but if you see today's images of police repression and are not outraged, look again. This reaction to the brutality could also be seen on the streets, where protests were called in solidarity with the Catalan people in different parts of the country, such as Madrid, Seville or Granada. Empieza la concentración en apoyo a #Cataluña en la Puerta del Sol pic.twitter.com/wdlQQFdede — La Marea (@lamarea_com) October 1, 2017 The rally in support of #Catalonia at the Puerta del Sol is starting. Beyond the referendum results and the tension around the country's fate, social media circulated some conciliatory anecdotes, like the viral photos and videos of people going to vote dressed in the Spanish flag, the flag of the Second Spanish Republic (which came to an end in 1939; Spain is currently a constitutional monarchy), or the shirt of the national football team. These moments of solidarity across political divides were repeated during the strike called two days later to protest police repression. Así hacemos aquí la revolución. Que no os engañen los medios. #3Oct#VagaGeneral3Opic.twitter.com/uSL3862R9f — Queer Punk Riot (@QueerPunkRiot) October 3, 2017 This is how we do revolution here. Don't let the media fool you. Many citizens decided not to participate in the vote, as they considered it illegitimate or pointless. However, after witnessing the images of repression, many others who had not intended to vote expressed their determination to do so as a gesture of protest and joined the strike in solidarity. Este gesto no necesita de explicaciones. Este es el buen camino. pic.twitter.com/zKtZhOXkmv — José García Molina (@josegarmolina) October 3, 2017 Image text: I don't want independence, but I can't stay home while my people are beaten! Tweet: This gesture needs no explanation. This is the way. Thus, some of the voters who said “no” to independence explained on social media their decision to participate in the referendum as an exercise in defending what they still consider a democratic right.