Catalan Pro-Independence Protesters Rally On Spain's Silence Day Ahead Of Elections

BARCELONA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2019) Spain's Catalan pro-independence supporters held protests throughout the region the day before the national general elections, when any political agitation actions are forbidden, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

On Friday, the Catalan pro-independence group Democratic Tsunami announced plans to organize new protests on November 9, the day of campaign silence that precedes every election, and have them continue after Sunday's parliamentary vote. The group wrote on Twitter that protests would be staged in 300 towns and cities across Catalonia on Saturday, with the main event expected at the Square of Catalonia in Barcelona.

According to the protest's organizers, this demonstration is a way to show the autonomous region's "disobedience" against the central electoral commission.

"I am not the only one who is here for this reason [to show disobedience]. We believe in our path and our goals are clear and firm," Oriol Gonzalez, one of the demonstrators in the Square of Catalonia said.

The event concluded with a concert from famous musicians associated with the Catalan independence movement. With their appearance on stage, the crowd started chanting "freedom!"

Throughout the day, several roads in Catalonia were blocked, but apart from this the protests were peaceful, unlike the previous violent protests that spread throughout the region following Spain's top court sentencing several Catalan leaders to lengthy prison terms.

Catalonia had been engulfed in violent protests since the abovementioned ruling in which Spain's Supreme Court sentenced Catalan leaders to prison terms over their involvement in the semi-autonomous region's unsanctioned 2017 independence referendum. Hundreds of people were arrested and hundreds others injured, including police officers in the protests that followed.

Then, following a brief pause, the protests reignited on November 4, amid Spanish King Felipe VI's visit to Barcelona. Separatists tried to block the entrance to the Congress Palace where the royal family was attending an awards ceremony, yelling "we have no king."