What is 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum?

The 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum was a disputed independence vote held on October 1, 2017 in Spain's Catalonia region that became viral meme material after Spanish riot police raided polling stations and clashed with voters.

Where did 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum come from?

Catalonia's regional government held the vote despite opposition from Madrid, which launched Operation Anubis on September 20, 2017 to deploy roughly 16,000 officers to try to stop it.

What does 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum mean?

It refers to the October 1, 2017 vote in which about 90% of participating Catalans backed splitting from Spain, according to Catalonia's leader.

How do you use 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum?

The event became meme fuel as viral footage and news photos from October 1 were remixed into image macros, most notably shots of riot police captioned with Monty Python's 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition'.

Is 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum still popular?

The memes peaked in early October 2017 during the referendum crisis and general strike, and interest largely faded once the immediate political fallout settled in the following weeks.

2017 Catalan Independence Referendum

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Published August 15, 2026

The 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum was a disputed independence vote held on October 1, 2017 in Spain's Catalonia region that turned into meme material after Spanish riot police raided polling stations. Redditors turned news photos of the crackdown into image macros within hours, spawning Monty Python 'Spanish Inquisition' captions, Jeb! photoshops, and viral posts on /r/worldnews and /r/dankmemes.

protest memes spanish origin memes political satire memes subreddit origin memes 2017 memes

Overview

The 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum was a disputed vote held on October 1, 2017 in Spain's Catalonia region. It turned into viral meme material after Spanish riot police raided polling stations, fired rubber bullets, and struck voters with batons on election day1. According to Catalonia's leader, about 90% of participating voters backed independence, though the vote itself was contested by Madrid1.

Images of Spanish riot police attacking voters spread across YouTube on October 1 through channels like The Exposer2. Within hours, Redditors turned news photos into image macros ranging from Monty Python 'Spanish Inquisition' gags to Jeb Bush photoshops about the political mess4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit (viral spread)

Date

2017

On September 20, 2017, the Spanish government launched Operation Anubis, deploying around 16,000 police and Guardia Civil officers across Catalonia to try to stop the vote from happening3. On the morning of the referendum itself, The Exposer YouTube channel uploaded footage of officers dragging voters out of polling stations, and the Lelk TV channel posted similar clips of clashes with demonstrators2.

How It Spread

On October 1, Redditor pipsdontsqueak submitted a /r/worldnews post titled 'Catalonia has won the right to statehood' that pulled more than 73,000 points and 11,500 comments in its first day4. Another post about Catalan firefighters forming a human shield to protect voters from riot police hit the front page the same day, and the subreddit spun up a live thread following the vote as it unfolded.

The Reddit reaction turned into meme templates on October 2. /r/dankmemes user PrinceOfPontecorvo captioned a photo of Spanish riot police with the Monty Python line 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition'4. GallowBoob posted a shot of Catalan farmers using tractors as barricades against riot police to /r/pics that same day, and Redditor ChrisTheCoolBean shared a 'Jeb Wins' photoshop titled 'Catalan independence referendum, 2017' to /r/The_Donald.

On October 3, roughly 15,000 people stopped traffic outside the Barcelona headquarters of Spain's national police force, chanting 'independence' and calling the force an 'occupying force'1. Schools, universities, and most small businesses across Catalonia shut down as pro-independence unions called a partial strike, and metro stations in Barcelona ran limited service1.

How to Use This Meme

The referendum isn't a template you generate yourself; it's an event whose news photos were repurposed by Redditors as raw material for image macros. Typical takes paired a real photo of Spanish riot police with the Monty Python catchphrase 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition,' or slotted the vote's outcome into 'Jeb! Wins' photoshop layouts posted to subreddits like /r/dankmemes and /r/The_Donald4.