Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Police and violent protesters in Spain’s restive Catalonia region clashed Saturday after a massive rally in Barcelona against the imprisonment of nine separatist leaders for their roles in an illegal 2017 secession bid.

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government has information suggesting there are “violent groups” who want to keep Catalonia in a state of crisis, acting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday.

“What they will find is a firm and considered response from the state’s security forces,” Sanchez told broadcaster La Sexta, when asked about the protests, at times violent, that have taken place in the northeastern region since several Catalan separatist leaders were jailed last week.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez is traveling to Barcelona, the protest-struck capital of the northeastern Catalonia region, to visit with injured police officers and talks with officials in charge of security.

Clashes between separatists and police waned over the weekend after five successive nights of riots in Barcelona and other Catalan cities. They followed huge peaceful protests by people in Catalonia who were angered by a Supreme Court ruling that sentenced nine separatist leaders to prison for the region’s failed 2017 secession attempt.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The mayor of riot-stricken Barcelona pleaded Saturday for calm after violent protests by Catalan separatists rocked Spain’s second largest city for a fifth consecutive night.

“This cannot continue. Barcelona does not deserve it,” Mayor Ada Colau told reporters, adding that Friday’s violence was the worst so far.

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia’s pro-independence regional chief Quim Torra called for talks on Saturday with Spain’s central government following five days of unrest triggered by the jailing of Catalan separatist leaders.

“We urge the acting prime minister of the Spanish government to sit at a negotiating table to talk,” Torra told reporters, adding that this week’s violence did not reflect the peaceful nature of the Catalan independence movement.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Masses of flag-waving demonstrators demanding Catalonia’s independence and the release from prison of separatist leaders jammed downtown Barcelona on Friday as the northeastern Spanish region endured its fifth straight night of unrest.

Chaotic scenes of violence erupted after more than a half million protesters, including families with children, marched in the Catalan capital, according to local police. Many were clad in pro-independence ‘estelada’ flags and shouted “Independence!” and “Freedom for political prisoners!”

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — For years, Catalonia’s separatist movement painstakingly built an amiable image of its quest to secede from Spain: Smiling parents and grandparents with children in tow marched under the Mediterranean sun, waving the flags of their cause and cheerily chanting “independence!”

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Rioting raged in Barcelona and several other Catalan towns for a third straight night Wednesday, with police fighting running street battles with protesters angered by lengthy prison sentences for nine leaders of the wealthy region’s drive for independence from Spain.

Tens of thousands of protesters faced off against police in Barcelona. Some set up flaming barricades in the streets, torching cars and trash cans. They chanted, “The streets will always be ours!”

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Violent clashes erupted for a second night in Barcelona between police and protesters angry about the conviction of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders, as Spain launched an investigation Tuesday into an activist group organizing the demonstrations.

Thousands of people held vigils near the Spanish government offices in Catalonia’s four provinces. But the gatherings turned into melees, with protesters hurling firecrackers and other objects at anti-riot officers and kicking temporary fences around the official buildings.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s acting government has lowered its growth forecasts due to domestic and external factors such as trade tensions and raised its deficit estimate, just as political gridlock narrows Madrid’s room for maneuver on budgetary matters.

In a document that is part of draft budget plans submitted to the European Commission on Tuesday, the government said it expects economic output to expand by 2.1% this year, less than a previous forecast of 2.2%. It sees growth of 1.8% next year, below a previous forecast of 1.9%.