they're proud that a few volunteers from elna could outwit the spanish police. me a video about the operation. jordi believes the police‘s embarrassment of being outsmarted led directly to the violence that was to follow. with the ballot boxes and papers safely across the mountains, the referendum could go ahead. queues formed as people waited in the rain to cast their vote. but the spanish authorities were determined to stop it. police brought in from the rest of spain used batons and rubber bullets to try and prevent people from voting, pulling voters from polling stations and confiscating ballot boxes. the catalan government said that nearly 1000 people were injured, around a quarter of them here. marta was helping a polling station at her children's school. some of the worst violence happened at this school, where the then president of catalonia, carles puigdemont, was due to vote. memories of what happened here are as vivid as ever. the spanish government's representative in catolnia comes from girona. he blames the organisers of the referendum for what hap

to a small town called elna in catalan.es just over the border from catalonia in north—east spain. this pa rt catalonia in north—east spain. this part of france was once catalan as well stop many still speak catalan and feel loyal to those south of the border. so when the spanish authorities declared the catalan referendum illegal, the people of elna stepped in to help. some of those involved agreed to talk to us on the condition of anonymity. the operation was closely guarded, even in a small town like elna, the conspirators‘ identities we re elna, the conspirators‘ identities were kept secret from each other. the operation lasted months, culminating on the night before the vote. spain had refused to allow voters to use official ballot boxes, and ballot papers were seized. so replacements were printed in secret in elna. ballot boxes were brought in from china and hidden in the countryside around the town. everything needed to hold the referendum was then driven across the border to volunteers waiting in spain. some here wi