Police clashed with Catalan separatists in Barcelona on Saturday as tensions increase before the anniversary of the Spanish region’s illegal referendum on secession which ended in violent raids by security forces. Police clashed with Catalan separatists in Barcelona on Saturday as tensions increase before the anniversary of the Spanish region’s illegal referendum on secession which ended in violent raids by security forces. This city has always defended that everyone can exercise their rights to free speech,” Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau told Catalunya Radio. Pro-secession politician Vidal Aragones, of the extreme left CUP party, called the police march an “insult to the Catalan people”. “They have come here to remember the violence that they employed.”Catalan police officers clash with pro-independence demonstrators (Emilio Morenatti/AP)Two weeks ago police had to intervene to keep apart two separate rallies by Catalan separatists and Spanish unionists in Barcelona, the region’s capital.

Source: Irish Independent September 29, 2018 12:00 UTC