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SWEDISH: One of the protesters holds a pig’s head during protests against the ruling of the Supreme Court in Spain yesterday that forces the Catalan president to leave. Photo: NACHO DOCE
Angry protesters marched and threw pig heads at the police in Barcelona after Catalan President Quim Torra (57) was suspended from office.
The protests were sparked when Spain’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling on Monday prohibiting Torra from holding public political office for 18 months.
The background is that the Catalan separatist leader refused to remove a banner proclaiming the independence of a regional government building before elections in May last year.
– I will continue working tirelessly for the freedom of Catalonia, promised Torra, who according to Reuters announced that he will appeal the verdict that he believes is politically motivated.
KNEBLET: Quim Torra greets his followers in front of the government palace in Barcelona. To his left is wife Carola Miro. Photo: NACHO DOCE
Fight for independence
Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, is an autonomous region in the northeast of Spain with 7.5 million inhabitants. The demands for independence three years ago created a political crisis.
The elected assembly in the region declared the independence of Catalonia in October 2017, following a referendum that was declared illegal by the courts.
The population of the region is divided on the issue of independence.
Before the municipal elections in May 2019, Torra refused to follow orders from the central electoral board to remove a banner from the main facade of the regional government building in Barcelona.
Supported separatists
The banner expressed support for the detained Catalan separatists. The Electoral Board considered that it was contrary to the rules of observation of neutrality during the electoral campaign.
Torra also refused to remove the unofficial Catalan independence flag and the yellow ribbons symbolizing support for separatist leaders from regional government buildings.
In October last year, the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan politicians and activists to between nine and thirteen years in prison for their role in the fight for independence the previous year.
PROTEST: A separatist raises a barricade in the streets of Barcelona during the demonstrations after the resignation of the regional president. Photo: NACHO DOCE
Guilty of disobedience
In December of last year, the Catalan Supreme Court declared Torra guilty of disobedience to the electoral commission, a decision that was unanimously confirmed by the Spanish Supreme Court this Monday.
The separatist leader defended himself with freedom of expression, but the court responded that the ruling was not about personal rights but about challenging a constitutional institution.
According to El País, the Supreme Court emphasized that Torra is free to display symbols and banners that reflect his political identity, but not during an electoral campaign.
The lawyer was an undescribed figure in politics when he was elected president of Catalonia in 2018. He promised that his government would “build an independent state in the form of a republic.”
Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Barcelona on Monday in support of Quim Torra, who left the government building in Barcelona on foot with his wife Carola Miro by his side.
“Once again, the Spanish state is intervening in our democratic institutions,” said Torras’ predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, exiled in Belgium, according to Reuters.
STRIKE: Rebel police march on protesters in Barcelona on Monday. Photo: NACHO DOCE
Exceptional sentence
Catalan Vice President Pere Aragones is expected to take over from Torra. The outgoing president said that regional elections will be held in the coming months.
The Supreme Court ruling means that Torra has been excluded from all political positions at the local, regional, state and European level for a year and a half.
According to El País, this is the first time that the Spanish Supreme Court has removed a Catalan regional president.
