- Title: Catalan separatist "march for freedom" arrives in Barcelona
- Date: 18th October 2019
- Summary: PROTESTERS MARCHING PEOPLE CLAPPING AS PROTESTERS PASS BY
- Embargoed: 1st November 2019 12:11
- Keywords: catalan separatist independence Spain Catalan march catalan protesters Barcelona strike
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA005B1MK2MF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators waving pro-independence flags and chanting "freedom for political prisoners" arrived in Barcelona on Friday (October 18), the fifth day of protests against the jailing of nine separatist leaders over a failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017.
The marchers, some of whom began their trek on Wednesday (October 16) from municipalities across the northeastern Spanish region, were set to reach the regional capital Barcelona later in the day.
Tensions between Madrid and Catalonia have been rising since Monday (October 14), when Spain's Supreme Court sentenced nine politicians and activists to up to 13 years in jail.
The sentences set off the worst sustained street violence Spain has seen in decades, with clashes between protesters and police, posing a major challenge both for the Spanish government and pro-independence regional authorities.
(Production: Jordi Rubio, Juan Medina, Silvio Castellanos, Anna Valderrama) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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