Barcelona burning
Violent protests follow the announcement of prison sentences of up to 13 years for politicians and activists
News Staff Reporters SEVERAL days of violent clashes in Cataluña between police and protesters have followed the Supreme Court's sentencing of nine separatist Catalan leaders on Monday.
Students in the region went on strike on Wednesday and protest marches involving several thousand people set off from several Catalan towns with the goal of reaching Barcelona by today (Friday).
Organisers urged them to remain peaceful, as so far protests have ended in violent clashes with regional and national police forces. Several cars were set on fire in Barcelona as a result of activists’ bonfires late on Wednesday night and a radical protestor aimed fireworks at a police helicopter.
Service on the high-speed train line between Barcelona and Girona, was halted due to 'sabotage' say officials.
Traffic in Barcelona has been slowed daily by massive cleanup efforts to remove the debris of burned barricades ignited by thousands of protesters, who clashed with police in riot gear, since Tuesday night.
Barcelona's police said 40,000 protesters packed the streets near the office of Spain's government representative and a running melee broke out when they turned over metal barriers and threw objects at police.
The outnumbered police used foam bullets, batons and shields to battle groups that rained down rocks, firecrackers and other objects on them.
The Interior Ministry said 54 members of Cataluña's regional police force (Mossos d'Esquadra) and 18 National Police officers were hurt in the protests on Tuesday.
Health authorities say they treated 125 people, both police and protesters.
Police made 29 arrests in Barcelona and protesters set more than 150 barricades in the streets ablaze, according to the ministry.
The protests were ignited by the verdict released on Monday by the Supreme Court, which convicted a dozen leaders of a failed 2017 secession attempt by Cataluña’s regional government. Nine of the 12 Catalan politicians and activists were found guilty of sedition and given prison sentences of nine to 13 years.
Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with the leaders of the main opposition parties on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Catalonia.
In the following press conference, he made a call for Catalan regional president Quim Torra to condemn the violence.
ERC MP Gabriel Rufian, a leading Catalan separatist and some other high-profile secessionists called for calm. "Nothing can justify violence," Mr Rufian told Cadena SER radio.
However, Sr Torra dodged reporters opening asking him if he condemn the violence as he himself joined one of the protest marches that will reach Barcelona today.
It was not until almost midnight when he appear in a Catalan TV broadcast stating “independentists condemn violence”, which he blamed on 'radical groups that have infiltrated the protests and have nothing to do with our independency'.
Many believe this condemnation was half-hearted and contradicts his actions earlier in the day, especially as he did not state any kind of support towards the regional police who are facing the riots.
Far from backing down, in a regional parliament debate yesterday (Thursday), Sr Torra promised a new independency vote before the end of his fouryear term in office - a statement that defies the Constitutional court warning.
Meanwhile, the feeling among Barcelona residents in areas where the violent protests have taken place is quite unfavourable to Sr Torra.
"Torra's the one who should be facing this mob", said Pep, one Barcelona resident who admitted he was tired of the protest disrupting his everyday life. He added, "He's let the dogs out and encourage them to 'press on' and now he can't control them."
Airport mayhem
One of the worst scenes occurred at Barcelona airport on Monday when police engaged in a running battle with protesters.
Thousands of protesters converged on Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport after a pro-independence group put out the call. Activists hurled objects, sprayed fire extinguishers and broke windows at the airport.
Police responded by firing foam bullets and using batons.
Reports released on Tuesday say a total of 131 people were treated for injuries during the protests throughout the region on Monday, the majority at the airport. Spain's airport operator, AENA, said at least 108 flights were cancelled on Monday and a further 45 on Tuesday due to the knock-on effect.
Passengers and aircraft crew were forced to walk several kilometres from access roads that had been cut-off by protesters, to reach the terminals.
A French passenger, who had to walk the distance, suffered a heart attack at the terminal and died the following day.
Vehicles in the car parks were damaged in clash between protestors and police.
Barcelona business associations are deeply concerned over the violence and have called for its immediate halt. They say irreparable damage has been caused by the scenes at the airport and outside main hotels in the city.
Supporting this fact is the cancellation or non-booking of a significant number of Imserso pensioners' holidays in the region this week.
The sentences
The Supreme Court sentenced former Catalan regional vice president Oriol Junqueras to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds following one of Spain's most important trials since democracy was restored in Spain in 1975.
Eight received lengthy prison terms in Cataluña's attempt to break away from Spain following an illegal independence referendum, while three received lesser sentences.
Although prosecutors had requested convictions for the more severe crime of rebellion, which under Spanish law implies the use of violence to subvert the constitutional order, judges convicted nine of sedition, implying that they promoted public disorder to subvert the law.
Regional parliament speaker Carme Forcadell was given 11and-a-half years in prison; former cabinet members Joaquim Forn and Josep Rull 10and-a-half years each; and grassroots pro-independence activists Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart nine years.
Junqueras and three other former cabinet members - Raul Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa, who were sentenced to 12 years - were also convicted for misuse of public funds.
Three other former members of the Catalan Cabinet - Santiago Vila, Meritxell Borras y Carles Mundo - were fined for disobedience.
Grassroots pro-secession groups have said that if any of the defendants were found guilty they would organise protests and ‘peaceful civil disobedience’ - however so far they have been far from that and central government has deployed hundreds of extra police to the region.
The separatist effort fell flat when it won no international recognition. The Spanish government stepped in and fired the Catalan regional government, with prosecutors later bringing charges.
At the centre of the prosecutors' case was the October 1, 2017, referendum that the Catalan government held even though the country's highest court had disallowed it.
The ‘Yes’ vote won, but because it was an illegal ballot most voters did not turn out and the vote count was considered of dubious value. The Catalan Parliament, however, unilaterally declared independence three weeks later, triggering Spain's worst political crisis in decades.
Seven separatist leaders allegedly involved in the events, including ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, fled the country and are regarded by Spain as fugitives.
Defence lawyers argued that the leaders of the secessionist movement were carrying out the will of roughly half of the 7.5 million residents of Cataluña who, opinion polls indicated, would like the region to be a separate country. Recent opinion surveys show the support for independency has dropped in the past two years.
The leader of Far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, criticised the verdict as too light.
Caretaker PM Pedro Sanchez said the outcome of the fourmonth trial proved the 2017 secession attempt had become ‘a shipwreck’. He urged people to ‘set aside extremist positions’ and ‘embark on a new phase’ for Cataluña.
Catalan regional president Quim Torra described the court's verdict as ‘an act of vengeance’. He said it "will not stop us from acting on our determination to build an independent state".
European arrest warrant for Puigdemont
The Supreme Court has issued an international arrest warrant for fugitive ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont following the sentence because he led the 2017 secession push.
Judge Pablo Llarena issued the request on charges of sedition and misuse of public funds, the same charges for which the nine received jail conviction.
Mr Puigdemont and several others fled to Belgium in October 2017 when they were summoned to appear before court to answer questions about the secession push and an illegal October 1 independence referendum.
Spain issued a first warrant back in 2017 but later withdrew it after a German court ruled that Mr Puigdemont could not be extradited to Spain for rebellion, one of the initial charges.