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"As much as they prepare you, if you don't live it, you don't know how distressing it is." The shocking images recorded in Manresa ( Barcelona ) on Wednesday with several thousand independentistas besieging the Civil Guard headquarters are not much less an exception these days in Catalonia. The harassment has returned and, according to several testimonies collected by THE WORLD, it is even "worse" than the one suffered by the armed institute at the height of the process , after the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017.

Manresa is one of the hottest points on the map, where the independence fury has been especially virulent in recent hours. But there are other Catalan municipalities where the Civil Guard is suffering harassment in these days of high tension after the ruling of the Supreme Court. Valls or Tortosa in Tarragona or Vilanova i la Geltrua in Barcelona are some of the examples. There have also been complications in the province of Girona .

"Each time they have one more point of hostility," says a civil guadia, who acknowledges that the sense of "anguish" has been installed especially in the barracks houses of the Civil Guard, where the families of agents reside, which is reliving the nightmare that was the year 2017.

What do not capture the harassment street scenes broadcast on video through social networks is the condition that is experienced within these units. "There were children crying, women suffering ... It was that there were too many people," describes this agent about the concentration in Manresa, emphasizing that families are "civilians."

The Mossos performance

Fortunately, despite counting a small number of troops, the Mossos kept the mass about 30 meters from the entrance, at a crossroads of several streets, but the barracks house building bends that corner and from some windows you could see to the protesters a few meters away.

Hence, one day later the visual aspect of the building shows practically all the windows covered by the blinds and closed to lime and song. Because fear has not passed. And yesterday, a group of young people broke out again in the early morning with the intention of resuming the protest of the night.

Amidst the tension of Wednesday's great concentration, there was a striking scene. A score of neighbors spontaneously took to the street to support the Civil Guard and organized a counter-demonstration across the street, in which they also produced a few Spanish flags.

"These are the Spartans of Manresa," exclaims one of these spontaneous young people in one of the videos of that night that have become more viral.

As for the independentistas, several testimonies affect the good work that the Mossos did to contain the demonstration. "Nothing happened because the Mossos cut them and let us access the barracks."

After more than three hours of concentration, insults and shouts - "Outside the occupation forces", for example - there was burning of containers and street riots in other parts of the Barcelona municipality, where the CDRs once again unleashed panic. A scene that occurred at the same time that in Barcelona and other municipalities of Catalonia were also hit by the wave of violence of the most radical. In the case of Manresa, the Mossos had to charge several times and finally a person was arrested.

Safety measures

The threat and tension experienced these days has led to certain precautionary measures. For example, Civil Guard agents are instructed to move too far from the barracks, even if they are not on duty, in case it is necessary to react and guarantee the "protection of the building and of the families that live within the premises"

Likewise, there are sources that also point out that there is greater caution when leaving or moving around the different towns of Catalonia to avoid that any neighbor could interpret their presence as a challenge and thus avoid incidents.

"People with family are not comfortable with their son here because they are not treated well," complains a civil guard, who says he has companions who have already sent their children with grandparents following the violent episodes they suffered in the 2017 and the subsequent problems that some children had in their schools.

A civil guard from the province of Barcelona regrets that Catalan politicians are not helping to calm the environment. "People are emboldening themselves and they also see themselves with impunity and the feeling that nothing is happening," he laments.

"Here nobody is braver than anyone. Of course you are with him to see if something is going to happen to me. There is always fear and whoever says no, lies," he continues.

The so-called interior area of ​​Catalonia, the furthest from Barcelona and the main population centers, are the terrain where independence is more widespread, so they are also the most difficult places for the Civil Guard. The localities of Vic or Berga are usually named as possibly the most "conflicting".

This Thursday, independence groups were seen again in the surroundings of the Manresa barracks. And with them the Mossos, who already took positions in case there was a new hot night and harassment of the Civil Guard.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Civil Guard
  • Manresa
  • Catalonia
  • Mossos d'Esquadra
  • Supreme Court
  • CDR
  • Violence Catalonia

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