Unrest in Barcelona as protesters clash with police over sentencing of separatist leaders

Record ID: 1436735

  • Title: Unrest in Barcelona as protesters clash with police over sentencing of separatist leaders
  • Date: 15th October 2019
  • Summary: PROTESTERS TAKING PHOTOS OF FIRE BURNING ON STREET ==== DAY SHOTS ==== VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING PEACEFULLY IN CENTRAL BARCELONA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, JUDITE, 46, SAYING: "Our government was elected in the ballot boxes and they had a programme that said they would work to hold a referendum. They (convicted separatist leaders and former members of the regional government of Catalonia) did what they said promised they would do, unlike most politicians, and because they did what they promised, they are in prison. So as a people we feel mistreated and humiliated by the government of Spain." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, MERITXELL, 24, SAYING: "We are here to say our political leaders are innocent, they are peaceful people who have listened to the people and we want them to be free on the streets with their families, their children, supporting the citizens." MARCH IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 29th October 2019 22:31
  • Keywords: Catalonia protests Spain sentencing of jailed leaders independence
  • Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003B17MQ13
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Clashes between protesters and police erupted late on Tuesday (October 15) in Barcelona, in a second day of rallies against the jailing of nine Catalan separatists by the Supreme Court over their role in a failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017.
    In unusually tense confrontations, protesters threw cans, stones and flares at riot police, and set garbage containers and cardboard on fire in the middle of several central Barcelona streets, including a thoroughfare housing designer stores and the local stock exchange.
    Fences were on fire next to La Pedrera, one of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi's most famous buildings and one of the city's main tourist attractions.
    Police charged several times through the crowd with batons. A spokesman for the regional Mossos police said they were trying to make space around the local headquarters of the Spanish government. Four people were detained, the spokesman said.
    Reuters reporters saw police fire foam projectiles at the protesters. They also witnessed Spanish national police firing blanks in the air from rubber bullet guns. Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
    Catalan separatism has long prided itself on being a peaceful movement and its leaders say that has not changed.
    But there were concerns in Madrid that heavy jail sentences for the separatist leaders could unleash pent-up frustration among a radicalised fringe, a senior parliamentary source told Reuters last week.
    Police also charged protesters in the cities of Girona and Tarragona, TV footage showed. Catalan police warned people on Twitter not to approach the epicentre of protests in Barcelona and Girona for safety reasons.
    (Production: Miguel Pereira, Lorena Cabral, catherine Macdonald)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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