It has been 10 years since a group of Spaniards angered by the economic crisis took their fury onto the streets, occupying public squares in a new form of protest that caught on worldwide.
Tens of thousands of protesters angry at Covid-19 restrictions rallied in cities across Europe on Saturday as several nations reimposed partial lockdowns to fight new surges in infections.
A police van was torched and looting broke
out on Saturday as police and protesters clashed in the latest demonstration
in Barcelona, 11 days after the jailing of a Spanish rapper in a highly
contentious free speech case.
After six days of violence, looting and clashes with police, the protests carried out by young radical demonstrators over the jailing of a controversial rapper showcase the many sources of discontent among Spain's youth.
Looting broke out as police and demonstrators in Barcelona clashed for a fifth night Saturday, with thousands hitting the streets across Spain in protest against the jailing of a controversial rapper.
Spanish rapper Pablo Hasel was imprisoned this week over tweets praising convicted terrorists, although he was also sanctioned for accusing the police of torture and the Crown of corruption.
In office for just over a year, Spain's leftwing coalition grouping the Socialists and hard-left Podemos is showing signs of strain with constant bickering between the two camps.
Spanish police and protesters clashed for a third night on Thursday, over the jailing of a rapper for controversial tweets, triggering a political backlash.
Spanish police clashed with protesters in Madrid and Barcelona Wednesday (January 17th) night, as fresh rallies broke out across the country over the jailing of a rapper for tweets insulting police and the monarchy.
Hundreds of cars and motorbikes paraded Monday in Madrid and other Spanish cities in protests called by the far-right to demand Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government resign.
Hundreds of people protested in Madrid on Sunday against partial lockdown measures imposed on parts of the region, mainly in densely populated low-income neighbourhoods, to curb a surge in coronavirus cases.
Spain's main opera house, the Teatro Real in Madrid, defended itself Monday after it had to cancel a performance when a small group of spectators loudly protested against being seated too close to each other amid a spike in Covid-19 infections.
Masked protesters set bins on fire and threw rocks and glass bottles at police who responded with foam bullets in a
street near Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium as Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off Wednesday in the first Clasico of the season.
Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of two jailed Catalan leaders, insisting that the "vague" and "overly broad" interpretation of sedition used to jail them could have a profound effect on the right to protest in Spain.
Former Catalan minister Clara Ponsati, wanted in Spain for her role in the region's unilateral bid for independence in 2017, was arrested by Scottish police on Thursday.
Catalan separatists once again blocked routes linking Spain and France on Wednesday morning in an ongoing protest to try to draw international attention to the Catalan independence issue.
UPDATED: Riot squads from the French Gendarme moved in to clear the highway linking France and Spain at La Jonquera border on Tuesday morning, dragging protesters from their camps and firing tear gas.
Catalan separatist activists blocked traffic on Monday on a motorway linking Spain and France, in a fresh protest against the sentencing last month of nine of their leaders to lengthy jail terms.
Several thousand Catalan protesters massed in Barcelona on Monday seeking to disrupt a visit by King Felipe VI as the
country barrelled towards another election under the shadow of the separatist crisis.
Hundreds of young people, mostly students, set up a protest camp in Barcelona on Wednesday over the jailing of Catalan separatist leaders and to demand a self-determination referendum.
Around 350,000 people rallied in downtown Barcelona on Saturday, turning the streets into a sea of independence flags in the latest mass protest against Spain's jailing of nine separatist leaders.
Nearly 300 police were injured in the violent protests which erupted across Catalonia following the jailing of nine Catalan separatist leaders earlier this month, the Spanish government said Friday.
