Catalans take to the streets again
Thousands of people took to the streets of Catalonia yesterday after a judge ordered the detention of two separatist leaders, further inflaming tensions over the region's chaotic referendum on splitting from Spain.
Thousands of workers in Barcelona and other cities staged a brief walkout at noon in protest at Monday's move by the National Court in Madrid to keep Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez behind bars on sedition charges.
"Repression is not the solution," protesters shouted as hundreds gathered outside the Catalan regional government offices in central Barcelona.
"Now anyone can be put in jail," said Carme Guell, a 62-year-old beautician who joined the walkout as civil servants from nearby regional ministries blocked the street.
Like many who back independence for semi-autonomous Catalonia, Guell said the wealthy northeastern region was "treated like a colony. All our money is taken away, nothing is reinvested here."
Catalonia's separatist government sparked Spain's worst political crisis in decades by holding a banned independence referendum on October 1, when a violent crackdown on voters by national police shocked the world. As the standoff shows little sign of easing, Madrid announced late Monday that it was cutting its growth forecast for next year from 2.6 to 2.3 percent.
Further protests against the detention of Cuixart and Sanchez were planned for yesterday afternoon.
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