Clashes in protest against Catalan ‘rebels’
VIOLENCE erupted on the streets of Barcelona last night as supporters of a unified Spain clashed with Catalan police in a rally attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
Several men, wrapped in Spanish flags, made Nazi-style salutes as tensions rose. Police used batons as they surged towards them.
Fellow pro-unity supporters were seen holding back some protesters who are reported to have shouted obscenities and called for the sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to be locked up.
It was of the biggest shows of force by the “silent majority” against Catalan independence.
Mr Puigdemont was removed from office last week as Spain’s central government took control of the region’s institutions during one of the country’s worst political crises since the civil war in the 1930s.
Enraged
Waving Spanish flags and chanting “Viva Espana”, protesters yesterday turned out in the largest display of support for a united Spain since the beginning of the crisis – underlining the depth of division in Catalonia itself.
Salesman Alfonso Machado, 55, said: “I’m here to defend Spanish unity and the law. Knowing that in the end there won’t be independence, I feel sorry for all the people tricked into thinking there could be and the divisions they’ve driven through Catalan society.”
Police estimates put the turn-out at 300,000 people but organisers said more than a million protesters attended the peaceful rally.
Student Marina Fernandez, 19, said: “I am enraged about what they are doing to the country that my grandparents built.”
The rally came as polls showed political parties opposing a split by Catalonia from Spain had a small lead.
On Friday Spain’s central government called an election in December after sacking Mr Puigdemont, dissolving Catalonia’s parliament and dismissing its government. In a speech at yesterday’s unity rally former European Parliament president Josep Borrell called for voters to turn out in December to ensure independence supporters lose their stranglehold on the regional parliament.
He said: “Maybe we’re here because many of us during elections didn’t go and vote. Now we have a golden opportunity. This time, nobody should stay at home.”
European countries including Britain, the US and Mexico have rejected the Catalan declaration of independence and expressed support for Spain’s unity. Meanwhile Mr Puigdemont was still being protected by loyal regional police officers yesterday as he vowed to go to work today as normal.
Regional Mossos d’Esquadra chiefs withdrew police protection from other members of his Catalan government as the Spanish government imposed direct rule on the region.
But Mr Puigdemont retained his and he vowed to continue to “work to build a free country” after Madrid imposed direct rule.