Today's arrests of nine pro-independence activists around Catalonia have sparked a new wave of protests. Close to 4,000 people this evening filled plaça Sant Roc in Sabadell, the city near Barcelona where four of the nine were arrested.
The demonstrations, organised by the CDR (Committees for Defence of the Republic), saw protesters shouting slogans like "release the detainees" and "out, forces of occupation" and holding signs with messages like "we'll do it again" and "the repression doesn't stop us". A manifesto was also read out in Sabadell condemning today's searches by the Civil Gaurd.
Plaça Sant Roc in Sabadell
The rally then moved towards the nearby property where one of the detainees was still present as it was being searched by officers.
Protests around Catalonia
Besides the main demonstration in Sabadell, almost forty others were organised around Catalonia. In Barcelona, some 300 protesters sat in the street outside the main Civil Guard building in the city on Travessera de Gràcia, shouting slogans against the gendarmerie and the Catalan police, the Mossos, who created a security cordon around the building.
Protesters in Barcelona / Photo: Carlota Camps
In Vic, a stage was set up in the town's plaça Major. Demonstrators shouted slogans supporting all those arrested today, especially Txevi, taken into custody in nearby Sant Vicenç de Torelló.
#NoTenimPor23S #Llibertat @CatalunyaRadio @324cat Molta gent a Plaça Major de Vic pic.twitter.com/lMG7KV2P2k
— Ferran Gil (@ferrangilm) September 23, 2019
In Lleida, one rally of some 300 people was centered outside the Spanish government's subdelegation to the province under the motto "your repression, our solidarity". They later headed to join the weekly demonstration in plaça Paeria where there were some 700 others calling for the release of pro-independence figures in prison and in exile.
🔴 Concentració a #Lleida#Detencions23S #NoTenimPor23S pic.twitter.com/VThiyFtdP8
— SEPC (@SEPC_nacional) September 23, 2019
There were also protests in some of the other places where the police carried out searches today, like Cerdanyola, Mollet del Vallès and Santa Perpètua de Mogoda. In the latter town, family members of Ferran, one of those arrested today, were embraced by relatives of the president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, who has been held in provisional detention since 2017.
és una de les imatges més besties dels últims temps. la família Cuixart abraçant i amb tota la soliaritat amb la família del Ferran, un dels detinguts avui. malgrat tot, sempre hi serem#FerranNoEstàsSol #SantaPerpètua pic.twitter.com/DU2IL5Kkz6
— Pol Altayó Isern (@polllastre) September 23, 2019
A #Cerdanyola sortim al carrer per la #LLIBERTATDETINGUTS #NiUnPasEnrere pic.twitter.com/TrH9KemVVE
— Nati Ortega (@NatiOrtegaBCN) September 23, 2019
A #mollet amb el @CDR_Mollet denunciant la injustícia espanyola.#notenimpor23s pic.twitter.com/Y0zTlDKjpg
— CDRLesFranqueses (@CDRFranqueses) September 23, 2019