Spanish Government Places Beds and Couches in Public to Encourage Napping During Vote

As tensions rise in Barcelona, the Spanish government has littered the streets with thousands of mattresses, couches, and eye masks in the hopes that Catalan protesters will sleep through a secession vote which Madrid deems illegal.

Spaniards, famous for their midday “siestas”, often nap for several hours a day. Often drawn to the lure of a soft place to rest their heads, many Catalonians have taken the bait and dropped their protest signs and fallen asleep.

Initially sending in armed police in riot gear, Madrid has been the target of global criticism for attempting to suppress would be voters with rubber bullets and tear gas. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, already under fire for his poor handling of the situation, has called the Catalan independence vote illegitimate and has refused to back down, ordering police to block the entrances of voting locations.

Thousands of protesters have pushed back in violent clashes with police throughout Barcelona. The aggressive show of force has served to further enrage citizens stoking fears that the voters will, in fact, opt for succession. Many older Catalonians say the governments actions remind them of the rule of Spanish military dictator Francisco Franco, whose brutal regime ended in 1975.

In response to the unrest, Madrid has begun air dropping mattresses in conflict areas as nap time approaches. It is Madrid’s hope that 3-4 hours of napping will minimize turnout until the voting booths are closed.

Like most Spanish businesses, voting stations will only be open for four hours from 12pm-2pm, followed by a shortened two hour breakfast break, and 4pm-6pm for pre-lunch voters. Rajoy hopes that the publicly available beds will eat into or totally eliminate voting activity amongst Catalans already exhausted from a shortened breakfast break.

Although the plan seems to be working, with thousands gravitating towards the beds, Rajoy has inexplicably ordered police to continue beating the Catalonians while they sleep.

Rajoy, who many argue is out of touch with the Catalan people, insists this is the best course of action.