Thousands protest against Spanish royal family visit in Catalonia
6421 Min Read
Several thousand demonstrators banged on kitchen pots and chanted “Catalonia has no king!” on Monday in protest against a visit by the Spanish royal family to the capital of the region that has been hit by weeks of separatist protests, Reuters reports. Some protesters burned pictures of the king.
About 2,000 protesters wielding Catalan pro-independence symbols and some Spanish republican flags are banging kitchen pots and blocking access to a Barcelona venue where the Spanish royal family is attending an award ceremony. The protesters are chanting “Go Away!” to King Felipe VI and his family, burning pictures of the Spanish monarch. AP reports
The heir, 14-year-old Princess Leonor, was expected to deliver a short speech at Monday’s ceremony.
Attended by King Felipe, his wife Queen Letizia and two daughters, the venue of the Princess of Girona young talent awards ceremony in Barcelona was heavily guarded by police who had installed heavy fences and blocked vans one of the city’s main thoroughfares with vans. Some of the guests have been unable to enter on time the conference center in the Catalan regional capital.
Waving Catalan independence flags, some of the demonstrators yelled abuse at attendees as they tried to reach a police checkpoint, pushing at least one of them, and forcing a few to turn back and try to find another entrance, a Reuters reporter said.
Dolors Aguilera, 70, said the king’s presence in Barcelona was a provocation.
