Protests across Catalonia to reject Torra's removal from power

Ousted president displays banner for which he was disqualified in square outside government HQ in Barcelona

A CDR protest group march in the center of Barcelona with a banner reading “Not one step backwards. Independence,“ on September 28, 2020 (by Miquel Codolar)
A CDR protest group march in the center of Barcelona with a banner reading “Not one step backwards. Independence,“ on September 28, 2020 (by Miquel Codolar) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

September 28, 2020 08:29 PM

Several protests across Catalonia began on Monday at 7pm outside a lot of town halls in municipalities including Barcelona.

Indeed, in the capital, after Quim Torra gave his farewell speech in which he committed to take his cause to European courts, the ousted president himself left the government headquarters to display the banner for which he has been disqualified.

Together with some of his ministers and officials of the independence camp, the until now chief of Catalonia showed the banner reading 'Freedom political prisoners' – he failed to remove it from the government headquarters within the deadline given by Spain's electoral authority during the spring 2019 electoral period.

Keeping the safety distance due to Covid-19, hundreds gathered in Plaça Sant Jaume and other squares in Catalonia's main cities, in rallies called by mainstream civic pro-independence entities Òmnium and ANC.

Yet, other demonstrations were also held elsewhere, called by the also pro-independence activists CDR group – in some of them, protesters threw rubbish at the police.

In Barcelona, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Jardinets de Gràcia, and headed to the Spanish government seat in Catalonia, but were blocked by police officers.

Later on, they moved towards the Catalan parliament - they forced open the gates of Parc de la Ciutadella, where the Catalan Parliament building is located. Yet, the police blocked the chamber's gates and no clashes were seen

Then the activists burned a dozen of trash cans down in central Barcelona and built barricades.
 
They played cat and mouse with the police before the officers managed to disperse them with vans and the rally came to an end at around 11pm.