La Jonquera (Spain) (AFP)

Catalan separatists blocked Monday morning in both directions the AP-7 motorway connecting Spain to France at the border, AFP found, and cut traffic over more than 20 kilometers, according to the services. information.

This is a new protest against the conviction in mid-October of nine independentist Catalan leaders to heavy prison terms for their role in the secession attempt of 2017.

It comes after the Spanish legislative elections, marked by a slight retreat of the Socialists in power and a leap from the extreme right, which complicate even more the formation of a government.

Dozens of vehicles blocked traffic at the border. Some 300 people came out of cars to set up a barricade. Others have begun to install a kind of stage with loudspeakers and projectors brought in vans, an AFP photographer has found.

The action caused a cut of the traffic on more than 20 kilometers, according to the regional service of road information in Catalonia.

"All in la Jonquera", the border town between France and Spain, had written in a statement posted on Twitter the mysterious platform "Democratic Tsunami".

"This mobilization is a cry to the international community to make it clear to the Spanish state that the only way is to sit and talk," said the platform on its encrypted email application Telegram.

"Democratic Tsunami" had organized its first major action on the day of the announcement of the judicial sentence against the separatists, on October 14, by organizing a blocking of access to Barcelona airport, which ended with the first clashes with the police.

In the following days, other demonstrations had degenerated into violent clashes between young protesters and police in Barcelona and other Catalan cities.

The Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), formed since 2017 of groups of radical separatists, also called to win La Jonquera.

The French motorway concessionaire Vinci warned users that since 09:00, "the A9 motorway (was) cut in both directions of traffic" and that deviation routes had been set up.

Asked by AFP, the gendarmerie said the blockade was on the Spanish side of the border.

© 2019 AFP