- Title: Tear gas hurled in Barcelona on fifth day of separatist protests
- Date: 18th October 2019
- Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS THROWING TEAR GAS AND DISPERSING, FIRE BURNING IN BACKGROUND FIRE BURNING, PROTESTERS PUSHING AND HIDING BEHIND BIN, THROWING OBJECTS MAN WEARING BOOTS DECORATED IN COLOURS OF PRO-INDEPENDENCE CATALAN FLAG WALKING, TAKING PHOTOGRAPH ON PHONE BOOTS WALKING POLICE VEHICLES DRIVING PROTESTERS RUNNING AND YELLING, TEAR GAS ROLLING ACROSS FLOOR, SMOKE RISING VARIOUS OF FIRE BURNING, PROTESTERS RUNNING AND THROWING OBJECTS TEAR GAS BEING THROWN, SMOKE RISING PROTESTERS CARRYING WATER BOTTLES, ONE PROTESTER WEARING PRO-INDEPENDENCE FLAG VARIOUS OF FIRE BURNING, PROTESTERS RUNNING PROTESTER SITTING ON FLOOR, OTHERS GATHERING ROUND PROTESTERS RUNNING POLICE GATHERED PROTESTERS GATHERED, FIRE BURNING IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 1st November 2019 22:13
- Keywords: Barcelona police tear gas protesters
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1MM05J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hundreds of protesters battled police in the heart of Barcelona on Friday (October 18), setting up fiery barricades and hurling rocks at security forces on the fifth day of unrest following the jailing of Catalan separatist leaders.
The violence came after a day of largely peaceful demonstrations as more than half a million people flooded the streets of the Catalan capital to denounce the lengthy jail terms that have sent a shockwave through Spanish politics.
But as night fell, masked youths blocked a broad boulevard close to the city's police headquarters, setting fire to large garbage bins and throwing a hail of stones, cans and bottles towards security forces in full riot gear.
Police responded with repeated volleys of foam bullets, smoke grenades and tear gas, which covered the area in thick, choking smoke.
Officials said there were clashes in at least four other towns and cities in Catalonia, Spain's wealthiest region in the far northeast of the country, as the pro-independence anger showed no sign of abating.
Spain's acting interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said 207 police had been injured since Monday, with 107 police vehicles damaged and 800 bins burned.
Some 128 people have been arrested in the region over the past five days and Grande-Marlaska warned that the rioters faced up to six years in prison.
(Production: Guillermo Martinez, Marco Trujillo, Miguel Pereira, Anna Valderrama, Soraya Ali) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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