French police clash with Catalan independence protesters at border
French police used pepper spray and batons against Catalan independence protesters blocking a major motorway between France and Spain.
Police began towing vehicles and debris from the site, intervention that led to scuffles with some protesters. Several hundred protesters descended on the La Jonquera border crossing between France and Spain on Monday morning.
The route is normally open because both countries are members of the European Union’s Schengen Area.
The protesters gathered on the French and Spanish sides of the border to bring attention to the Catalan independence movement. The region in north-east Spain has been hit by protests in recent weeks after custodial sentences were handed down to nine separatist leaders who led a failed independence attempt in 2017.
While previous protests by the movement were peaceful, the most recent demonstrations, centring on the Catalan capital of Barcelona, have been characterised by violence.
Predominantly young protesters torched cars, blocked traffic and threw petrol bombs at police in the city.
Unrest in Catalonia dominated recent Spanish elections, which returned an even more fractured parliament with seats distributed equally among a constellation of parties.
The nationalist movements in Catalonia and the Basque country, in north-east Spain, now expect to be empowered by the emergence of a broad left-wing coalition to block the
Spanish political right’s path to power.
The far-right Vox party, which opposes devolved governments and advocates a re-centralisation of power in Madrid, won 15 per cent of the vote and 52 seats by exploiting anger related to the separatist clashes. The Spanish newspaper El
Pais said Catalonia’s devolved government yesterday passed a motion to reassert the right of the autonomous regional government to self-determination. The approval was viewed as a shot across the bow of the country’s constitutional court that sentenced the nine separatist leaders including former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras in October.
A top adviser to the EU’s highest court said the European Parliament should decide on immunity for Junqueras.