Spain Clashes erupt during pro-Catalan protest

Catalan pro-independence protesters clash with the police in Barcelona, Spain on Friday evening. Pics/AP

Barcelona: Clashes erupted between riot police and over half a million citizens who took to the streets of Barcelona to protest against the hefty prison sentences recently handed out by the Spanish Supreme Court to several leaders of the Catalan independence movement.

According to police figures, some 5,25,000 people took to the streets of the regional capital on Friday, with many of the protesters marching from different parts of the Catalonian region, whose government had launched an unsuccessful bid for secession from Spain in 2017.

The protest was held under the slogan "For Rights and Freedoms, General Strike", and dominated by the ubiquitous yellow ribbon - the symbol used to call for the release of the nine Catalan leaders that were convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds by Spain's Supreme Court on Monday.

Protesters of all ages chanted in favour of Catalonia's independence from Spain and called for the immediate release of the imprisoned pro-independence leaders. The massive rally concluded with the president of the pro-independence organization National Assembly of Catalonia (ANC), Elisenda Paluzie, reading out a statement urging Catalan authorities to make another unilateral declaration of independence, as they did in October 2017.

"We urge pro-independence parties to avoid time-delaying maneouvers. If dialogue doesn't arrive, prepare yourselves to support a unilateral independence declaration. We, the people, will be there to peacefully defend it," Paluzie said.

Spanish PM warns protesters

Acting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government was working to ensure that laws were "upheld inside and outside" Spain's borders. "The law is clear and those who commit an illegal act have to answer for it," commented Sanchez on the day that saw former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont turn himself in to the Belgian authorities after Spain reissued an international arrest warrant for him for his role in the 2017 referendum and the subsequent unilateral declaration of independence in the Catalan region.

5.25 lakh
No. of people who took to the streets on Friday

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