Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez finished his Monday visit to Barcelona, the capital of Spain's semi-autonomous Catalonia region, without meeting with its head, Quim Torra, who offered to meet earlier in the day
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2019) Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez finished his Monday visit to Barcelona, the capital of Spain's semi-autonomous Catalonia region, without meeting with its head, Quim Torra, who offered to meet earlier in the day.Earlier in the day, Sanchez said he would visit Barcelona to meet with law enforcement agents who had been injured in the ongoing protests in the region. On Sunday, acting Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said 288 police officers had been injured in violent clashes with protesters.
"After visiting Catalonia's central police headquarters and injured law enforcement agents in the Sagrat Cor and Sant Pau hospitals, [Sanchez] completed his visit to Barcelona," the Spanish government said in a statement.
During his visit, Sanchez expressed his support to security forces and law enforcement agents in the region, commending them on their efforts to secure order during the protests.
Earlier on Monday, Sanchez sent a letter to Torra, repeating his earlier demand for the region's head to condemn the ongoing violence. In his letter, Sanchez outlined three duties that a public official was required to perform to condemn violence, protect security forces and avoid social confrontation saying Torra had not done this.
The violent protests have been ongoing since last Monday. They were sparked by the Spanish Supreme Court's ruling to sentence nine Catalan independence leaders to lengthy prison terms. Immediately following the ruling's announcement, protests erupted throughout Spain and have since turned violent. Hundreds of protesters have been injured and detained.
