Spain: Tensions rise as police prevent ultranationalists and Antifa clashes
Hundreds of ultranationalists faced anti-fascist protesters in Barcelona on Thursday night, as Barcelona police intervened to keep the groups separate. The Ultranationalists gathered in protest of Catalan independence.
The ultranationalists can be seen chanting “Sieg Heil” while performing nazi salutes and waving flags of the Bases Autonomas far right group - a modified version of a flag used by Spain under Francisco Franco, and a modified version of the Spanish flag bearing a Celtic cross. Another ultranationalist protester can be seen wearing a shirt depicting the “250 Division”, a unit of Spanish volunteers in the German Army on the Eastern Front in World War II.
After confrontations with Barcelona’s police force, the Mossos, the group marched towards the centre of the city.
Pro-independence protests in Barcelona were sparked by the Spanish Supreme Court convicting 12 independence leaders, including former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, for their role in the autonomous region's attempt to achieve secession and holding an illegal independence referendum. Nine of the pro-independence convicted were given jail sentences ranging from nine to 13 years.
Hundreds of ultranationalists faced anti-fascist protesters in Barcelona on Thursday night, as Barcelona police intervened to keep the groups separate. The Ultranationalists gathered in protest of Catalan independence.
The ultranationalists can be seen chanting “Sieg Heil” while performing nazi salutes and waving flags of the Bases Autonomas far right group - a modified version of a flag used by Spain under Francisco Franco, and a modified version of the Spanish flag bearing a Celtic cross. Another ultranationalist protester can be seen wearing a shirt depicting the “250 Division”, a unit of Spanish volunteers in the German Army on the Eastern Front in World War II.
After confrontations with Barcelona’s police force, the Mossos, the group marched towards the centre of the city.
Pro-independence protests in Barcelona were sparked by the Spanish Supreme Court convicting 12 independence leaders, including former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, for their role in the autonomous region's attempt to achieve secession and holding an illegal independence referendum. Nine of the pro-independence convicted were given jail sentences ranging from nine to 13 years.
