Since the beginning of the trial of twelve separatist leaders from Catalonia, the anger is being discharged. Now there are road blocks and injured.
A general strike against the separatist process before the Supreme Court in Madrid paralyzed parts of Catalonia on Thursday. In clashes between protesters and the police, more than 20 people were injured. However, participation in the strike was lower than the organizers had hoped, reported the newspaper El País. Among the protests under the slogan „Without rights, there is no freedom,“ called the union federation CSC.
The CSC was supported by the separatist regional government. The big Catalan unions do not support the strike. Above all, many students gathered in Spanish media, according to the protesters throughout the day.
In the early evening tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona to vent their displeasure with the trial. In the morning, according to the authorities, 13,000 demonstrators gathered near the University of the Catalan capital under the motto „This is not a process, it’s a shame“. Already last weekend there was a big demo with hundreds of thousands of participants in the metropolis.
Twelve prominent separatist leaders have been tried in court since February 12, including former ministers and activists who played pivotal roles in the October 2017 banned independence referendum. The prosecution accuses them of, among other things, rebellion. The defendants face long prison sentences. The former regional president Carles Puigdemont is not in court – he had exiled himself to Belgium.
Buses and trains as well as hospitals and pharmacies were particularly affected by the strike. However, the public long-distance and local traffic continued – as required by law – with minimum operation. In Barcelona, about 50 percent of public transport was used during commuter traffic, and only one third of regional trains continued on schedule.
