Category Archives: Catalonia

Global report: Barcelona facing new lockdown as Tokyo raises alert level

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Tensions over how to quell outbreak in Catalan capital as cases flare up around the world

Part of the northern Spanish region of Catalonia has gone back into lockdown, with Barcelona suggesting it might also follow suit with restrictions in some districts, as authorities sought to control a resurgence of coronavirus cases emerging just weeks after a nationwide lockdown was lifted.

As a judge overturned a previous court decision to approve the stay-at-home order for the Lleida area, west of Barcelona, friction was emerging over how to handle an increase in cases in a suburb of the Catalan capital.

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Anger in Madrid but calm in Barcelona at extended lockdown

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Contrast is stark between reactions in Spain’s two biggest cities to being excluded from relaxation of coronavirus measures

For the past five days, millions of people in Spain have once again been able to indulge in moments of luxury that would have been mundane routines just two months ago.

Across half the country, they have been able to meet up with friends and family, and to sit outside bars and sip a café con leche or a cold, refreshing caña (beer). But not so in Madrid or Barcelona.

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Isis suspect who defied coronavirus lockdown in Barcelona arrested

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‘Profoundly radicalised’ man was apparently scouting for targets to attack, police say

Spanish police working with the FBI and the Moroccan intelligence officers say they have arrested a “profoundly radicalised” Islamic State follower who was apparently scouting for targets to attack in Barcelona during the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown.

The Guardia Civil said the man, a Moroccan citizen, was arrested in the Catalan capital following a surveillance operation.

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Catalonia pays €3m to firms linked to theory Shakespeare was Catalan

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Media companies linked to institute that also claims Leonardo da Vinci, Cervantes and Columbus were Catalan

The Catalan government had paid €3m (£2.6m) in subsidies to media companies with close links to a body that claims that Shakespeare, Cervantes and Columbus – among others – were Catalan.

The figures were revealed in a parliamentary answer given by Pere Aragonès, the Catalan vice-president, who said the money had been paid since 2012 to two media companies owned by Albert Codinas, the joint founder and current president of the New History Institute (INH) – one of which shares an address with it.

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Doctors in Spain revive British woman after six-hour cardiac arrest

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Audrey Mash developed severe hypothermia while hiking in Catalan Pyrenees in freezing weather

Doctors in Barcelona have managed to revive a British woman who had a six-hour cardiac arrest after developing hypothermia while hiking in the Catalan Pyrenees in freezing weather last month.

Audrey Mash said she was surprised at the attention her case had attracted and said it had not put her off hiking. “I feel like a fraud for not being back at work. I’m hoping to go back before the end of next week,” she said on Thursday.

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Spain’s far-right Vox surges in wake of Catalan independence protests

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Catalan question again dominates campaign ahead of Sunday’s general election

Barcelona no longer goes to bed to the smell of smoke, the whoop of sirens or the clattering of helicopters. Three weeks after violent unrest greeted the Spanish supreme court’s decision to jail nine Catalan separatist leaders for sedition over their roles in the failed push for regional independence two years ago, the city is slowly returning to something resembling normality.

While sporadic roadblocks set up by protesters have become just another irritation of urban life and rubbish piles up on the streets after most of the bins in central Barcelona were burned on the barricades, the true impact may be more accurately measured on Sunday when Spain holds its fourth general election in as many years. The Catalan question is once again dominating the political debate and could help the far-right Vox party surge into third place, its best-ever result.

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Barcelona tourist industry counts cost of ‘lost week’ of rioting

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Trade reportedly falls 60% in some areas, with concern about disturbances’ long-term effect

Still reeling from the collapse of Thomas Cook, Spain’s tourist industry is now counting the cost of prolonged rioting in Barcelona, the nation’s most popular urban destination.

A week of violent and destructive disturbances over the jailing of Catalan political leaders left the city with a clean-up bill estimated at €3m but it is feared that the images of airport chaos, running battles with police and flaming barricades will cost the city a great deal more.

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Spanish police clash with thousands of Catalan protesters in Barcelona

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Police charge 10,000-strong crowd as pro-independence demonstration turns violent

Spanish police and militant elements in a thousands-strong crowd of protesters clashed in the streets of Barcelona close to police headquarters late on Saturday, as a pro-independence demonstration by a direct action group turned violent.

After a largely peaceful gathering of an estimated 350,000 pro-independence supporters jammed the centre of the city earlier in the day, a second crowd began to form around Barcelona’s police headquarters about 7.30pm. As the crowd grew to around 10,000, according to police estimates, TV footage showed protesters throwing bottles, balls and rubber bullets at officers.

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Tourist trade counts the cost as separatist riots blight Barcelona

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Hoteliers, restaurants and shops say takings fell up to 50% after the violence, and future bookings may be hit

Catalonia has been counting the political cost after protests swept across the region following the decision by Spain’s supreme court to impose heavy sentences on Catalan separatist leaders found guilty of sedition. Now it faces a new cost – a slump in the lucrative tourist business in its hugely popular capital, Barcelona.

The violent disturbances left the city with a clean-up bill estimated at €3m (£2.6m), but it is feared that the images of airport chaos, running battles with police and flaming barricades will cost a great deal more.

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Protests rage around the world – but what comes next?

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Unrest is seemingly everywhere. We look at the some of the reasons for and responses to it in Hong Kong, Lebanon, Chile, Catalonia and Iraq

In Lebanon they are against a tax on WhatsApp and endemic corruption. In Chile, a hike in the metro fare and rampant inequality. In Hong Kong, an extradition bill and creeping authoritarianism. In Algeria, a fifth term for an ageing president and decades of military rule.

The protests raging today and in the past months on the streets of cities around the world have varying triggers. But the fuel is familiar: stagnating middle classes, stifled democracy and the bone-deep conviction that things can be different – even if the alternative is not always clear.

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Catalonia protests: key moments from a week of unrest – video

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The jailing of nine pro-independence Catalan leaders over their roles in the failed push for secession two years ago has sparked five nights of violent unrest in Barcelona and other areas of Catalonia. The region's president, Quim Torra, has called for talks with the Spanish government after a peaceful march and general strike was followed by further clashes between protesters and police

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Catalan president calls for talks with Spain’s government after unrest

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Quim Torra urges dialogue for democratic solution to tensions following fifth consecutive night of violence

Catalonia’s president, Quim Torra, has called for talks with the Spanish government after Friday’s huge, peaceful march held in protest at the jailing of nine pro-independence Catalan leaders was followed by a fifth consecutive night of violent unrest in Barcelona and others parts of the region.

Speaking on Saturday morning, Torra again condemned the violence of recent days, adding: “Violence has never been our flag.”

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Violence erupts after pro-Catalan general strike in Barcelona

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Protesters set fire to bins and chant ‘The streets will always be ours’ in fifth night of rioting

Catalonia suffered a fifth consecutive night of rioting on Friday after violence erupted in Barcelona following a peaceful demonstration attended by more than 500,000 people in protest at the heavy sentences handed down to Catalan politicians and activists.

There were disturbances and police charges on Via Laietana near the headquarters of the Spanish national police during Friday afternoon but, no sooner had the demonstration begun to disperse at 6.30pm than rioting broke out around Plaça Urquinaona in the city centre.

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Clashes escalate in Barcelona as Catalan president blames ‘infiltrators’ for violent protests

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Quim Torra says people trying to damage reputation of independence movement as fourth night of violence rocks city

Barcelona suffered its fourth and worst night of violence on Thursday as pro-independence supporters clashed with police and right-wing groups in running battles well into the small hours of Friday morning.

The disturbances followed a now familiar pattern as a large demonstration called earlier in the evening dispersed and groups of protesters clashed with police in the city centre who say that a clothing shop was set on fire and a bank was vandalised.

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‘It’s barbarity’: clashes in Barcelona after Catalan separatists sentenced – video

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Police and protesters clashed in Barcelona and other Catalonia towns on Tuesday over the jail sentences handed to nine Catalan separatist leaders. A peaceful candlelit protest outside the offices of the Spanish government in Barcelona escalated and the central government warned that violent demonstrations would be met with a ‘firm, proportional and united’ response

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Police clash with Catalonia protesters in second night of violence

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Spanish government warns of ‘firm response’ to pro-independence unrest

The Spanish government has warned that violent protests in Catalonia will be met with a “firm, proportional and united” response after the jailing of nine pro-independence leaders triggered a second night of unrest in the region.

In Barcelona, peaceful, planned demonstrations erupted into running battles with the police on Tuesday.

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Catalan independence leaders accused of ‘totalitarian attitude’

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Spain’s foreign minister says regional government excludes views of people who do not back independence

The Spanish foreign minister has accused the pro-independence Catalan government of exhibiting a “totalitarian attitude” by excluding and ignoring the 50% of Catalans who oppose breaking away from Spain.

Josep Borrell, who is himself Catalan, made the remarks a day after nine senior Catalan leaders were jailed for sedition over their roles in the failed attempt for regional independence.

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Catalonia’s separatists were jailed for sedition, but brought down by hubris | Giles Tremlett

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It could have been very different. But the 2017 declaration of independence threw away the campaign’s moral advantage

Some things are impossible. Catalan independence is currently one of them. The stiff jail sentences handed down to the leaders of the separatist campaign that peaked in 2017 with a banned referendum, police violence and a fudged declaration of independence make that clearer than ever.

There are huge practical obstacles to independence, starting with the many hurdles written into Spain’s constitution. Overcoming these requires massive support in Catalonia itself; but the separatist leaders who orchestrated a head-on collision with the law never had anything like that. The jail sentences are for sedition, but their real problem is hubris.

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Thousands protest over prison terms for Catalan separatist leaders – video

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Protesters took to the streets of Barcelona and other parts of Spain after the supreme court jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid in 2017. Three main streets in Barcelona were blocked, as was train and metro access to Barcelona airport

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Catalan separatist leaders given lengthy prison sentences

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Nine convicted variously of sedition, misuse of public funds and disobedience over 2017 independence vote

Spain’s supreme court has jailed nine prominent Catalan separatist leaders for sedition over their roles in the failed push for independence two years ago, triggering angry protests in Catalonia and renewed calls for a political solution to the long-running territorial dispute.

Protesters took to the streets and others tried to blockade the main terminal at Barcelona airport after the court acquitted the nine defendants of the charge of violent rebellion but convicted them variously of sedition, misuse of public funds and disobedience.

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