Barcelona had its third consecutive night of riots. Independence activists clashed with the police on the night of Wednesday, October 16, to Thursday, October 17. An escalation of violence in Catalonia denounced Thursday by the separatist authorities of this autonomous region while the Spanish government stands ready to intervene.
After a peaceful march of thousands of protesters in Barcelona, hundreds of young militants in dark clothes, masked and wearing motorcycle helmets, set fire to barricades, burned cars and threw stones and bottles on the street. riot police, noted an AFP journalist.
Barcelona - Day 3
For the first time, cars burn after the demonstration against the regional ministry of the interior against the police charges of the last two days pic.twitter.com/npGMUliVNS
"It's self-defense"
For the first time, the regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, reported jets of Molotov cocktails and acid. Protesters also tried unsuccessfully to fire fireworks at a police helicopter.
In front of a barricade on fire, young masked demonstrators shouted: "It's not violence, it's self-defense." The clashes spread to other cities like Tarragona and Lleida. The demonstrations began after the Supreme Court condemned nine pro-independence leaders to long prison terms on Monday for their involvement in Catalonia's bid for secession in 2017.
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Fifty people have had to receive care, including 32 in Barcelona alone, the emergency services announced, after the 125 wounded of the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. "At least 20 people have been arrested" throughout the region, after the 51 of the day before, announced the Mossos.
"A group of infiltrators and provocateurs"
Shortly after midnight, Catalan President Quim Torra intervened on television to condemn the violence, which he attributed to "a group of infiltrators and provocateurs". "We can not allow the incidents we see in the streets ... it must stop immediately," he said a few hours after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had asked him to "clearly and without excuse the use of violence ".
But "it is normal and it is good that we protest against an unfair and aberrant sentence," Quim Torra added.
Several cities in the region were already on Tuesday, the scene of urban guerrilla scenes between police and demonstrators. On Monday, thousands of activists tried to paralyze Barcelona airport, bumping into riot squads firing bullets and rubber bullets.
A "general strike" Friday
The sentence of the Supreme Court sparked a well-organized protest and on Wednesday morning long columns of protesters set off from five cities in this wealthy region of northeastern Spain. They must converge in Barcelona on Friday, day of "general strike" and mass protest.
Pedro Sanchez, who has consulted the leaders of the main political parties in the day, has not announced any drastic measures as called for by the opposition on the right, less than a month away from the legislative elections. It talks about regaining control of the police forces currently entrusted to the autonomous region, or even suspending the autonomy of Catalonia as Madrid had done after the attempted secession.
"We will modulate our response according to the attitude and decisions that will take the leaders" of the Catalan regional government, he said. Police reinforcements will be sent this week in Catalonia, we learned from the Ministry of the Interior.
A turning point for the separatist movement
Catalonia is divided on the question of independence. According to the latest poll published in July by the government of Quim Torra, 44% of Catalans are in favor and 48.3% are opposed.
Born of the frustration of a part of the independence movement, two years after the failed secession attempt, these street battles marked a turning point for the separatist movement, which prides itself on being non-violent. Wednesday's protest had been called by the Republican Defense Committees (CDR), followers of punches, which Quim Torra had one day publicly encouraged to "continue to put pressure".
"We have taken a path without return," proclaimed the CDR Wednesday in a statement. "Do not fall into the trap of those who want to demobilize us," they added, calling on the separatist regional government to "take a step forward by breaking with the Spanish state".
With AFP