Catalan Separatists, Police Clash In Fresh Violence

Catalan separatists, police clash in fresh violence

Barcelona, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2019 ) :Catalan separatists burned barricades and clashed with police in Barcelona on Thursday in a fourth night of violence triggered by Spain's jailing of nine of their leaders over a failed independence bid.

Hundreds of young protesters chanting "independence" set fire to improvised roadblocks in the centre of the city late in the evening, tossing Molotov cocktails at police, who responded by firing foam and anti-riot rounds, according to AFP correspondents.

The fresh clashes came on the eve of a huge protest planned in the Catalan capital. Separatists have called a general strike and a rally on Friday against the Supreme Court's decision to jail the separatist leaders for their role in a referendum banned by Madrid and a short-lived declaration of independence.

Earlier on Thursday, around 25,000 striking students and their supporters took part in a midday rally outside Barcelona city hall, according to municipal police. Thousands more are on a cross-country march towards Barcelona for Friday's rally.

"The actions we have been staging over the past few days testify to the helplessness we feel as the Spanish state continues to reject (independence) and threaten us, while Europe remains silent," a 23-year-old accountant, who would only give his first name as David, told AFP.

Eduard Salinero, a 21-year-old physics student who is in favour of secession, said many people who want Catalonia to remain a part of Spain back the protests "because they feel it is totally unfair to send our elected politicians to jail".

Activists blocked several roads across Catalonia by burning tyres while the commuter rail service in Barcelona was intermittently disrupted due to demonstrators on the tracks, officials said.

Several roads and highways were also blocked off due to the mass marches which departed on Wednesday from five Catalan towns heading for Barcelona.

Xenia Cabeza, 18, said she was protesting "because they don't let us vote in a referendum" on secession. She carried a sign that read "You can't imprison an entire people".

Announced Monday morning, the verdict has sparked three days of large demonstrations which have turned increasingly violent with separatist activists engaged in nighttime clashes with riot police in Barcelona and elsewhere.