CRISIS IN CATALONIA: For several hours, protesters blocked roads in protest against the arrest of members of the Catalan government …
A dozen roads were cut Friday morning in Catalonia by demonstrators protesting on both sides of the Franco-Spanish border against the arrest of members of the Catalan government, according to the Catalan Traffic Service.
National 2, an access road from France to Spain, at La Jonquera border city with France, was blocked, while other routes to Andorra were cut for several hours by vehicles across or tractors rolling very slowly, causing several kilometers of traffic jams, the source said.
#Catalogne : des manifestations barrent la route au niveau de la Jonquera et en Andorre #Perpignan – https://t.co/ZSTy44WF5a
— L’Indépendant (@lindependant) 3 November 2017
“Spontaneous Movement”
“There was a spontaneous movement of people who have decided to cut roads, including Barcelona,” explained to Perpignan Francesc Bitlloch, a member of the ANC, Assemblea Nacional Catalana, one of the engines of independence movements.
“This prepares the most important things. Defense Committees of the Republic were formed in all the Catalan territories. There are currently discussions on how to follow, “he told an AFP correspondent. “Some think that these movements can lead to the cancellation by the central government elections scheduled on December 21st.”
According to him, “there is talk of a general strike in the coming days,” because “what seems clear is that peaceful protests with the flowers no longer enough.”
Demonstration outside the Spanish Consulate
Thursday evening, some 200 demonstrators gathered in Perpignan to the Spanish consulate in protest against the incarceration of eight members of the deposed government of Carles Puigdemont, exiled in Belgium.
According to the Catalan Service of traffic, most of the dams were raised earlier this afternoon. “These operations have caused no disruption on this side of the border,” said the prefecture of Pyrénées-Orientales .
