But Vernis said that, unlike Scotland, "there's a sinister path" in Catalonia, and those in the region were taking hope from what was happening in the UK.
"This vote right here is a demonstration that a big part of a country can separate and still be a proper country in its own right," he said.
So what's next? "In the short term, we're hoping there will be 300 people from Catalan here tomorrow, where we'll meet other activists and help get out the vote. In the longer term, we need to campaign to other countries to recognise Catalan. We really want to convince people that the power should be in the polling stations."