SPANISH LEADER SÁNCHEZ VISITS EMBATTLED BARCELONA

BARCELONA, Spain: Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez is traveling to Barcelona, the protest-struck capital of the northeastern Catalonia region, to visit with injured police officers and talks with officials in charge of security. Clashes between separatists and police waned over the weekend after five successive nights of riots in Barcelona and other Catalan cities. They followed huge peaceful protests by people in Catalonia who were angered by a Supreme Court ruling that sentenced nine separatist leaders to prison for the region’s failed 2017 secession attempt. Regional health authorities say 593 have been injured in the protests, nearly half of them police, and 14 remain hospitalized. In all, 194 people were arrested. Sánchez is trying to stay in power as Spain holds a national election on November 10.

MADRID: The Spanish government says it will exhume and relocate the remains of late military dictator Gen. Francisco Franco on Thursday. In a statement Monday, the government said the remains would be taken from the grandiose mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen complex outside Madrid and taken to a discreet grave close to the capital by helicopter. The procedure was authorized after the Supreme Court recently dismissed the objections by Franco’s family. The government is pushing ahead with the exhumation before Spain holds a general election on Nov. 10. Franco ruled Spain between 1939 and 1975.