Catalonia braces for more disruption as general strike begins

Following a fourth night of street unrest in Barcelona, Catalans awoke on Friday to a general strike called by pro-independence unions to protest a ruling by the Supreme Court that sentenced nine separatist leaders to prison for their role in the 2017 unilateral breakaway attempt.

There were new roadblocks and flight cancellations as activists sought to disrupt public transit for the fifth consecutive day. The province of Barcelona is particularly affected, according to Catalan traffic authorities, due to five simultaneous marches slowly advancing towards the Catalan capital. Thousands of people participating in the so-called “Freedom Marches” are scheduled to arrive in Barcelona today after walking for three days. A demonstration has been called in the city center at 5pm.

At 9.30am the AP-7 highway was blocked off at a point near the city’s Autonomous University, and in the municipality of La Jonquera, on the border with France. Motorists were also experiencing problems on the N-II, N-240, N-340 and N-420 national motorways.

Iberia has cancelled 12 Friday flights between Barcelona and Madrid due to the strike. Vueling has grounded 36 of its own flights. On Monday, over 100 flights were grounded after thousands of independence supporters blockaded the Josep Tarradelles-El Prat airport.

Thursday violence

The night-time street violence escalated on Thursday, when radical protesters broke into a La Caixa branch office and hurled pyrotechnic material at the police as they attempted to reach the building that houses the Spanish government’s delegation in Barcelona.

For the first time, far-right groups showed up on the scene and clashed with the separatist radicals. The police made 19 arrests, and at least 18 people required medical assistance.

Despite police efforts to prevent clashes between both groups, there were violent confrontations following two simultaneous street demonstrations – one called by the pro-independence Committees to Defend the Republic that attracted around 13,000 marchers according to the local police, and another one comprised of far-right militants who numbered 200 to 300 people.

A few of the latter were heard yelling “Let’s go hunting!” as they ran towards Diagonal avenue, where the independence supporters had gathered. Some of them were wrapped in Spanish flags and carried baseball bats as they ran to cries of “Franco! Franco!”

At least one independence activist was beaten and kicked as he lay on the ground, while radical separatists cornered a far-right demonstrator who had a knife and left him with head injuries.

Puigdemont in Belgium

In Belgium, Carles Puigdemont, the ex-premier of Catalonia who fled Spain to avoid arrest after heading the unilateral secession bid, on Friday showed up before judicial authorities in the company of his lawyers, in response to a European arrest warrant issued on Monday by Spain’s Supreme Court, which wants to try him for sedition and misuse of public funds. On Friday Puigdemont declared that he is opposed to being extradited to Spain.

Speaking on the Catalan radio network RAC1, Spain’s caretaker interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said he hopes Puigdemont will be extradited to Spain. “We are in the EU and we have grown up with the same values that make us democratic societies: the rule of law, freedom and equality. This means that a decision from a judge in Marseille is worth the same as a decision from a judge in Barcelona, because we all work with the same values. Mr Puigdemont can and must be handed over to Spain.”

English version by Susana Urra.