An angry, violent dispute took place on Sunday between supporters of the far right and residents of the Catalan town of Verges, near the Costa Brava, requiring several units of the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra police to be sent in to separate the two sides. The confrontation occurred around lunchtime when several people tried to remove a series of pro-independence estelada flags flying from lamp posts in the town.
Ara mateix a Verges!!! pic.twitter.com/b7OrEAlgLZ
— Nuria Pujol-Xicoy (@NPX2011) 12 de maig de 2019
The attempt to take down the flags by the group, some of whom were carrying long poles for their mission, led to the arrival on the scene of local residents who verbally criticised the would-be flag removers and tried to stop them. The extremist group did not give up and fighting began, which forced the Mossos d'Esquadra to send in several patrols to separate the two sides.
Verges, in the Baix Empordà county near Girona, has been the scene of previous incidents involving extremist groups removing yellow ribbons, estelada flags and other symbols located in public spaces associated with the Catalan independence movement.