Catalonia's separatist government is adamant it will go ahead with Sunday's referendum despite the country's highest court barring it as unconstitutional.
Spain's central government insists the referendum is illegal, must not go ahead and that the result will not be recognized. It has drafted in thousands of extra police to try to prevent the vote taking place.
In the run-up to the vote, Catalan officials have accused the Spanish authorities of trying to suppress the people's democratic rights.
Joan Maria Piqué, international communications director for the government of Catalonia, told CNN on Friday that 200,000 ballot papers had been confiscated this week -- on top of almost 10 million the Spanish government said it had seized on September 20, along with voter lists and other paperwork.
According to Piqué, 14 Catalan government officials have been arrested over the referendum and 150 websites suspended. Mobile phones have also been seized.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency said in a statement Friday that people working in the polling stations could be fined up to 300,000 euros ($354,000) for doing so.
Despite the government's warnings, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters Friday that there would be 2,315 polling stations where people can vote, mostly inside schools. More than 5.3 million voters are on the electoral roll, according to the Catalan government.
Public support for the referendum within Catalonia, a wealthy region in Spain's northeast, has become increasingly vocal as the vote has neared. (ontinueReading
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