- Title: Clean-up in Barcelona after clashes over separatist sentencing
- Date: 16th October 2019
- Summary: PEOPLE WALKING ALONG STREET IN CENTRAL BARCELONA
- Embargoed: 30th October 2019 08:35
- Keywords: Spain Catalonia Catalan separatists independence Iberia
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003B1CKGG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Council workers cleaned up the streets in Barcelona on Wednesday (October 16), the morning after clashes erupted between Catalan pro-independence demonstrators and riot police in the city's centre in tense protests over the jailing of nine separatists by the Supreme Court over a 2017 independence bid.
Residents in Barcelona expressed concerned about what they called 'minority groups' that have caused the clashes and disrupted peaceful protests late on Tuesday (October 15).
"These are small groups, it's the minority and most of them are nearly underage. I think these are people who will end up isolated and they are not significant, not significant of the movement which is peaceful and has democratic values," Maria, a local resident, told Reuters.
Protesters set garbage containers and cardboard on fire in the middle of central Barcelona streets, including high-end commercial streets home to many of the city's designer stores, according to a Reuters witness.
The clashes are a challenge for the regional, pro-independence authorities and the central government in Madrid, both of which are facing a fragmented political landscape and an economic slowdown.
Catalan separatism has long prided itself on being a peaceful movement and its leaders say that has not changed.
(Production: Miguel Pereira, Tara Oakes, Chiara Rodriquez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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