"A total of 34 people have been arrested for incidents related to public disorder and acts of looting on Saturday night: One in Lleida, two in Tarragona and 31 in Barcelona," Mossos d'Esquadra said on Twitter.
According to the Medical Emergency System of the Catalonia Department of Health, over a dozen people were injured during the Saturday protests (in Barcelona, Lleida, Tarragona, Cubelles). Two of the injured were hospitalized.
On Saturday, demonstrations were held in over 20 Spanish cities. In Barcelona, protesters threw rocks and other objects at police. In Madrid, demonstrations were held amid heavy police presence and young people resorted to simple insults against law enforcement officers.
Protesters set up barricades in the center of Barcelona on Saturday and set them on fire. They also set fire to parked motorcycles and mopeds and threw rocks at police. Shops were looted and some notable buildings, including the music hall and the stock exchange, were damaged.
In Lleida, protesters also threw stones at police, while in Tarragona, a group of radicals smashed the windows of the court building and a bank.
Càrregues #PabloHaselLlibertat #LlibertatPabloHasel #gracia #tv3 pic.twitter.com/QV4dMTrSCK
— Miki (@miquelpascual_) February 20, 2021
On Friday, at least four people were detained amid the protests (two in Barcelona and two others in Girona), according to Mossos d'Esquadra. Protesters overturned trash cans, set up barricades, smashed shop windows, looted shops and threw various objects at law enforcement officers.
In 2018, Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel was sentenced to nine months in prison for glorifying terrorism and slandering the Spanish monarchy in more than 60 tweets published between 2014 and 2016, as well as in one of his songs posted on YouTube. The rapper was supposed to voluntarily report to prison earlier this month but refused to do so. He was arrested on Tuesday, February 16.
