A total of 15 out of 35 injured people needed medical assistance and were delivered to hospitals.
The protests erupted late on March 23, after the top Spanish court accused 25 Catalan politicians of holding an illegal independence referendum and 13 of them — of organizing a rebellion. Five politicians, including candidate for the post of the president of the Catalan government Jordi Turull, were arrested. The court also issued an international arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and five other politicians, who are currently not in Spain.
Several people were injured as clashes between police and thousands of demonstrators turn violent in Barcelona after the Spanish supreme court's decision to imprison five Catalan leaders https://t.co/DcnEDmRWBW pic.twitter.com/p0DWleNIA1
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 24, 2018
— Muro Político (@MuroPoliticoMX) March 24, 2018
Detalles: https://t.co/rh9CIB79Ul pic.twitter.com/Mpa2ehp9EU
READ MORE: Vote on Turull's Candidacy for Catalan Presidency Revoked — Parliament's Speaker
Participants of one of the demonstrations tried to approach to Spanish government's office in Barcelona but the way was blocked by security forces. The protesters threw smoke grenades and bottles trying to break the cordons while the security forces resorted to rubber truncheons and warning shots.
On October 1, Catalonia held an independence referendum, which was not recognized by central authorities. After the regional parliament unilaterally announced independence later in October, based on the results of the vote, Madrid imposed the direct rule over the autonomous region and dissolved the Catalan parliament. Several pro-independence leaders were jailed, while Puigdemont fled to Belgium to avoid an arrest.
