CATALAN PROTEST
A general strike in Catalonia was muted Wednesday, but pro-independence demonstrators blocked roads and stopped trains in Spain’s northeastern region to protest the jailing of ousted regional government officials and secessionist activists. Above, protesters block the path of a high-speed train at the Barcelona Sants rail station in the Catalan capital. Intersindical CSC, a platform of pro-independence workers’ unions, had called the strike to address labor issues. But separatist parties and civil society groups asked workers to join the stoppage to protest the Spanish government’s moves against the Catalan bid for independence. Spanish authorities seized control of Catalonia after a majority of regional lawmakers ignored Constitutional Court orders and passed an independence declaration Oct. 27.