- Title: Catalan pro-independence protesters assault police van near Barca stadium
- Date: 18th December 2019
- Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (DECEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) CATALAN PRO-INDEPENDENCE PROTESTERS OPENING THE DOORS OF A RIOT POLICE VAN AND THROWING OBJECTS TOWARDS POLICE OFFICER PROTESTER REMOVING RIOT GEAR FROM POLICE VAN / RIOT POLICE RUNNING TO RECOVER THE GEAR PROTESTERS KICKING POLICE VAN RIOT POLICE HITTING PROTESTERS WITH BATONS / PROTESTER KICKING POLICE OFFICER PROTESTER THROWING COBBLESTONE TOWARDS A POLICE OFFICER'S HEAD VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICER WRESTLING PROTESTERS TO THE FLOOR VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MOVING BARRIERS AND GARBAGE BIN PROTESTERS THROWING OBJECTS AT POLICE VANS RIOT POLICE FIRING RUBBER BULLETS PROTESTERS THROWING OBJECTS AT POLICE VANS PROTESTERS WITH THEIR FACES COVERED PROTESTERS NEXT TO GARBAGE BIN ON FIRE RIOT POLICE AIMING RIFLE PROTESTER SETTING GARBAGE BIN ON FIRE VARIOUS OF GARBAGE BINS ON FIRE
- Embargoed: 1st January 2020 22:22
- Keywords: Barca Clasico Police Protest Real Madrid Security flames scuffles
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAI7GAV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Police clashed with pro-independence supporters and protesters set garbage containers on fire on Wednesday (December 18) near Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium during Spain's most high-profile match - the "Clasico".
Minutes before the match began Catalan police broke up fighting that flared between some Barcelona fans and pro-independence protesters, detaining one person for throwing projectiles at them.
As the second half got underway masked demonstrators broke down an exterior fence in a failed attempt to gain entry to the stadium, a police spokesman said.
The group set fire to waste containers to create a barricade before several vans full of police arrived to disperse the crowd, Reuters TV footage showed.
Wednesday's protest was called by secretive Catalan protest group Democratic Tsunami, which says it favours peaceful civic disobedience and whose main goals are to get Spain to negotiate on Catalonia's right to self-determination and to achieve freedom for the jailed separatists.
Many protesters carried banners that read "Spain, sit and talk" and the organisation said on Twitter it would distribute 100,000 of those banners to the people attending the game. It also told them to bring inflatable balls and to write on them a "message for the world".
The La Liga game had initially been scheduled to occur two months ago. However, it was postponed on security concerns due to unrest in the wealthy northeastern region after Spain's Supreme Court in October sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to up to 13 years in prison.
(Production: Jordi Rubio, Felipe Fernandez, Silvio Castellanos) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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