Several hundred “yellow vests” were gathered Saturday at the toll Boulou near the Spanish border, and busloads of protesters continued to flow.
Hundreds of ” yellow vests ” were gathered Saturday at the Boulou toll near the Spanish border, and busloads of protesters continued to pour in, AFP reported.
They had blocked a ramp in the early morning at the Boulou (Pyrenees-Orientales) , but after the intervention of the deputy prefect of Céret, Gilles Giuliani, they agreed to lift their block, in exchange for power head towards the last toll before Spain, according to protesters.
Heavy trucks blocked
“It was very difficult to get here, the police first tried to stop us, but we succeeded”, after the intervention of the sub-prefect, told AFP Marcel , a 49-year-old winemaker.
According to him, the “yellow vests” let the cars pass, but block heavy trucks, “symbols of Spanish imports to France at prices sold off for many years”.
Autoroute A9 bloqué dans les deux sens France/Espagne et Espagne/France au Boulou #GiletsJaunes66 pic.twitter.com/EFqMdYcobm
— Léo Ardourel (@LeoArdourel) 22 December 2018
Les #giletsjaunes ont déployé un drapeau bleu blanc rouge devant le péage de l’A9 au Boulou dans le sens France Espagne pic.twitter.com/HzjhRFj1mw
— Léo Ardourel (@LeoArdourel) 22 December 2018
Jets de lacrymogène pour disperser les #GiletsJaunes rassemblés au péage du #Boulou pic.twitter.com/bynE2H0ZNK
— Léo Ardourel (@LeoArdourel) 22 December 2018
“King Macron gives crumbs to the beggars”, “The contempt is enough”, could we read on the banners of the demonstrators. Dozens of motorcyclists also paraded by their side.
Catalan separatists mobilised
In the middle of the morning, dozens of separatist Catalan activists, also wearing yellow vests and waving the independence flag, joined the French protesters. They had blocked Friday some roads between the Pyrenees-Orientales and Catalonia.
This type of road block had already been organised there one year by the Republic Defense Committees (CDR) – radical militants – to protest against police violence and repression which began on 1 st October 2017 at the referendum for the independence of Catalonia.
Even if the claims are very different on one side and the other of the border, “this event at Le Boulou is symbolic, it illustrates the solidarity between the Catalan Spanish and French, ” says Marcel.
A death in Perpignan
A minute of silence was observed in tribute to a driver killed in the night at the entrance to the Perpignan-South highway , said a protester at AFP.
The tragedy occurred when his car was embedded in the back of a truck, blocked by a dam filtering “yellow vests,” said the Perpignan prosecutor, Jean-Jacques Fagni , pointing out that most protesters had fled.
A flagrant investigation was opened for “aggravated manslaughter and impeded circulation,” the source said. According to firefighters, the victim is a 36-year-old man.
On Thursday, a 61-year-old “yellow vest” died near Agen , overthrown by a large articulated lorry at a rally at a roundabout.
These two deaths bring to 10 the number of deaths related to “yellow vests” since the beginning of the movement more than a month ago.
Other events in Toulouse and in the region
Moreover, in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) , 1700 “yellow vests”, according to the police, marched and then gathered in front of the prefecture.
They also paid tribute to all those killed in circumstances related to their movement, before heading to the toll Ibos, Tarbes West, according to an AFP correspondent.
In Foix (Ariège), there were several hundred demonstrators to have gathered in the city center, according to an AFP correspondent . The day before, the prefecture of Ariège had announced the prohibition of rallies on roundabouts and major highways.
In Toulouse , calls to a demonstration of “yellow vests” at 14h in the city center were launched on social networks.
On the side of Montpellier (Hérault), about 450 yellow vests scroll in the city center. They found themselves at 9:30 instead of Comedy, before heading to the prefecture then the train station.
