Protests paralyse Catalonia as marches head for Barcelona

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Catalonia and its riot-swept regional capital Barcelona have been paralysed by a mix of strikes and marches as it faced its fifth day of protests over the conviction of independence leaders&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Spain’s central authorities said 57 flights into and out of the region had been cancelled due to a general strike called by pro-independence unions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Picketers also closed off to traffic the border with France across the Pyrenees and burned tyres and blocked dozens of roads across the north-eastern region&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Commuter and long-distance train services were reduced significantly&comma; and many shops and factories did not open for business&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Antoni Gaudi’s modernist Sagrada Familia&comma; a tourist magnet in central Barcelona&comma; closed its doors due to a protest blocking the access to the basilica&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Highways were occupied by thousands of people joining five marches from inland towns that are expected to converge in Barcelona’s city centre on Friday afternoon for a mass protest with striking students and workers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Farmers in tractors are joining some of the so-called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Freedom marches”&comma; organised by the grassroots pro-independence ANC and Omnium groups&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>That follows clashes with police in cities across the region late on Thursday&comma; for the fourth night in a row&period; In the capital&comma; a mob of far-right anti-independence activists tried to storm a separatist protest of thousands&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Health authorities in the region say 42 people were injured on Thursday night&comma; most of them in the capital&comma; and regional police arrested 16 protesters&comma; sending eight to jail&comma; according to Spain’s Interior Ministry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The caretaker interior minister&comma; Fernando Grande-Marlaska&comma; said authorities are tracking <em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;minority groups that are provoking incidents in very specific places”&comma;<&sol;em> vowing to punish the radicals&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>More than 200 people have been arrested since separatist sentiment swelled again this week following the imprisonment of nine separatist politicians and activists who led a push for independence that triggered Spain’s deepest political crisis in decades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Their former leader&comma; Carles Puigdemont&comma; on Friday avoided arrest after he voluntarily gave evidence to Belgian judicial authorities over a new warrant Spain issued this week following the sentences&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Spain is seeking Puigdemont on possible charges of sedition and misuse of public funds after previously failing to secure his extradition from Germany and Belgium on suspicion of rebellion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He fled to Brussels in late 2017 following the failed attempt to establish a new European republic in the wealthy region&comma; and has since campaigned for Catalan independence from there&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In May&comma; he was elected as a European legislator&comma; but was not sworn in because Spain’s electoral board said he did not qualify for the seat by failing to show up in Madrid to swear Spain’s constitution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Belgian judge did not put bail conditions on him while the case is being examined&comma; making any immediate extradition unlikely&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Spanish football federation has postponed next week’s marquee game between Barcelona and Real Madrid due to a fear of more street violence in Catalonia&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Separatist groups have called for supporters to rally in Barcelona on October 26&comma; the planned date of the match&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The federation&comma; in consultation with government officials&comma; said it is not safe to play on the same day&period; The clubs have until Monday to decide on another date for the game&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed11f4e9ba3">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; 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