On October 18, a regional strike was organized in Catalonia, organized by student and labor unions. Protesters blocked several highways, public transport runs at increased intervals, more than 50 flights from Barcelona are canceled, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reports. Thousands of people in different cities of Catalonia took part in the “Freedom March”, which started three days ago, and on Friday five columns of demonstrators from the cities of Girona, Vic, Berg, Tarrega and Tarragona entered Barcelona.
According to law enforcement agencies, more than half a million citizens gathered on the streets of the autonomy capital.
At the same time, Friday's protests are accompanied by riots. Some of the demonstrators clashed with the police, throwing stones and firecrackers at them, and they used tear gas in response. According to the publication El Pais, 17 people were detained, 62 sought medical help.
At the same time, Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlasca previously reported that since Monday, when the protests began, 207 police officers were injured, about 100 police cars were damaged, more than 800 containers were burned, 128 people were arrested for participating in the riots.
Due to protests in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia Cathedral stopped working, the main attraction of the city. The issue of postponing the date of the football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, which was to be held on October 26 in the capital of Catalonia, is also being decided.
The reason for the mass protests in Spanish autonomy was the verdict passed on October 14 by the country's Supreme Court to 12 former officials and public figures involved in organizing and conducting an independence referendum on October 1, 2017. Three participants in the process were fined, and 9 people received real sentences of imprisonment. The most serious punishment, 13 years of imprisonment, was received by the former deputy head of Catalonia, the leader of the Left Republicans party, Oriol ункunkeras.
Former government advisers Raul Romeva, Jordi Turul and Dolors Bassa were sentenced to 12 years. Former Catalan parliament speaker Carme Forkadel was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison, former advisers to the Catalan government Joaquim Forn and Josep Rul - to 10 years and 6 months, community leaders Jordi Quichard and Jordi Sanchez - to 9 years in prison. The Supreme Court qualified the organization of the referendum as incitement to rebellion and as a violation of public order.
On the same day, an arrest warrant was issued for the former leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemon, who is now in Belgium. The government of this country had earlier rejected extradition requests sent by the Spanish authorities. On Friday, the former head of Catalonia, along with his lawyers, voluntarily appeared before the Belgian authorities after the news that the Spanish authorities had sent another request for his extradition. However, the Belgian court not only did not arrest Puigdemon, but did not even oblige to pay a bail. And the Brussels prosecutor’s office said that they could begin to analyze the Spanish arrest warrant only next week, after receiving an official translation of the document.
Protest Evaluation
The current head of the autonomy government, Kim Torra, a member of the Together for Catalonia party, led by Puigdemon, initially supported the protesters. On October 14, he spoke out for amnesty to the convicted referendum organizers. In addition, Torra recalled the long-standing idea of his party to hold a new referendum on independence, presumably in 2020. However, already on October 16 in a televised address, he condemned the clashes of protesters with the police.
“The independence movement is not violent and should not fall into traps or succumb to provocations. Independence is creation, not destruction. She is not directed against anyone; she is to the benefit of all. Therefore, I ask you to remain calm, to be decisive, correct and not to resort to violent methods, ”said Torra.
The acting Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez also appealed to abstain from violent actions.
- Tear gas and Molotov cocktails in Catalonia
The EU summit was held in Brussels on October 17-18, but its participants did not discuss events in Spain. The official position of the European Union regarding the riots in Barcelona has not yet been announced. However, the EU has never declared support for the independence of Catalonia.
As for Russia's position on this issue, it was previously voiced by President Vladimir Putin.
“We have great respect for Spain and the Spanish people and their history. We have good, deep relations, historical roots are very good. We are not at all interested in the countries of Europe falling apart one after another, ”the Russian leader said in June 2019 during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
At the same time, experts draw attention to the unusual nature of the current protests of Catalonia - the protests' discontent is accompanied by a large number of excesses: fights with the police, vandalism, hooliganism.
“This is a new phenomenon for Catalonia. Previously, all the protests here were exclusively peaceful. The leaders of the Catalan nationalists themselves, those in power and those in prison, urge the protesters not to resort to violence, ”said Ekaterina Cherkasova, senior researcher at the IMEMO RAS, in an interview with RT.
She attributes the violent nature of the present speeches to the fact that the protests are largely spontaneous, and the role of their coordinator and organizer is assumed by political forces considered marginal. Thus, the “Freedom March” was convened with the support of the radical organization “Committees for the Defense of the Republic”.
“Among the protesters there are many young people and various radicals, especially the ultra-left,” explains Cherkasov, the reason for the unrest.
Riots won't change anything
Large-scale protests suggest that ideas of independence are very popular in Catalan society, experts say. At the same time, they emphasize that the protesters are unlikely to achieve their goals.
Cherkasova notes that the authorities made concessions anyway, because the verdict imposed by the Supreme Court turned out to be much milder than expected. During the trial, the heaviest charge was dropped - a rebellion that is punishable by imprisonment of 25 years. The judges unanimously decided that there was no rebellion, and left only charges of rebellion, embezzlement of public funds and disobedience.
“Now the verdict has entered into legal force, and no street protests, demonstrations, riots, strikes and the like, which we are now witnessing in Catalonia, can change this. The defendants will be imprisoned for at least half the term. Further, for good behavior, as in all prisons in the world, they can petition for a commutation of the sentence, ”Cherkasova said.
- Head of Catalonia Kim Torra
- © Albert Gea / Reuters
In turn, the head of the department of social and political research at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Schweitzer, believes that the protests in Catalonia will not last long and will gradually weaken.
“They would have a chance of success if they had the support of some organizational force. But they did not delight even the leaders of the leading parties in Catalonia, who advocate independence, who are in power in autonomy, ”he says.
Moreover, according to political analyst Vladimir Olenchenko, the population of Catalonia is not at all homogeneous on the issue of independence.
“Yes, we see activists, there are many of them, they are noisy and radical. But we must not forget that, according to all opinion polls, the majority of the population of Catalonia is quite moderate. The Catalans would like more isolation from Madrid, but they are not very clear about how this should be in practice. In any case, they do not want to enter into a hard confrontation with the Spanish authorities. The leadership of Catalonia holds the same position, ”Olenchenko said in an interview with RT.
- The consequences of the riots in Catalonia
According to Vladimir Schweitzer, the Spanish authorities "will not step back a step" under the pressure of protesters. And the matter is not only in the radical nature of the protests, but also in the fact that parliamentary elections will be held in Spain on November 10, and Sanchez and the ruling Socialist Party do not want to show voters their weakness. However, the events in Catalonia will not remain without consequences, the expert said.
“Most likely, some negotiations not only on Catalonia, but generally on the federalization of Spain can take place. But only when the elections are held and a new government appears, ”Schweitzer suggested.