[ad_1]
At around 8pm on Sunday, people gathered again at the Barcelona-Sants train station. According to the newspaper La Vanguardia, the police have prepared for another disorderly afternoon and night.
The protests broke out on Tuesday, when the police detained Pablo Hasél at a university in the city of Lleida where he had barricaded himself with a group of fans. The week before, he had surrendered to the authorities to serve a nine-month prison sentence. The ruling is highly controversial and has sparked a debate on freedom of expression in Spain. The demonstrations have been growing every night and have also spread to other cities in Spain, such as Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Logroño and Malaga. On Sunday the first demonstration will be held in Bilbao.
Yesterday’s demonstration degenerated. Now the police are preparing for another difficult night.
Photo: Albert Llop / NurPhoto / Shutterstock
The night before sunday There were 8,000 people on the streets of Barcelona. The riots arose when a group broke up and passed the police checkpoints. A large number of shops on the Paseo de Gracia in the center were looted, containers and garbage cans were set on fire and protesters threw bottles at the police. The entrance to the Stock Exchange caught fire and several windows of the Palau de la Música Catalana, one of the most famous buildings in Barcelona, were smashed.
In all, more than 100 people have been arrested and both police and protesters have been injured in the protests.
Catalan Minister of the Interior Miquel Sàmper regretted this Sunday that what began on Tuesday as a protest “for freedom of expression” ended in “pure vandalism looting shops.”
The verdict against Pablo Hasél applies to Twitter posts and lyrics where the rapper has been accused of glorifying terrorism, praising the ETA guerrillas and insulting the royal family. Hasél was found guilty of libel, libel and glorification of terrorism. Hundreds of cultural workers, including film director Pedro Almodóvar and actor Javier Bardem, have signed a protest list.
The Spanish government has committed to reviewing the Freedom of Expression Law.
Read more: Nathan Shachar: The arrest of the Spanish rapper divides the government
