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Catalan Separatists Demonstrate on Election Eve

   BARCELONA, SPAIN - Waving separatist flags andchanting, "Freedom for
   political prisoners!" thousands ofsupporters of Catalan independence
   gathered in Barcelona forconcerts and rallies on Saturday, while some
   protesters facedoff with police, a day before Spain heads to the polls
   for ageneral election.

   Mostly organized by secretive Catalan protest groupDemocratic Tsunami,
   the demonstrations aim to force Spaniards toreflect on the prison
   sentences handed down last month to nine separatist leaders who
   spearheaded a failed independence bid in2017, organizers said.

   In one protest called by CDR, another separatist group thatfavors
   direct action such as blocking highways, several hundreddemonstrators
   tried to reach the Spanish police headquarters,the flashpoint of some
   of last month's riots, but were blockedby police.

   Tense exchanges

   There were tense moments as masked protesters, singing theCatalan
   anthem, threw eggs and other objects at the police andtried to
   barricade the road with waste bins. Officers responded by chasing them
   through centralBarcelona's restaurant-packed streets until the crowd
   dispersed.

   Local media said there was no immediate word of any arrests. A
   spokesman for the Catalan police could not confirm whether anyarrests
   were made during the protest.

   The election campaign has been dominated by the Cataloniaseparatist
   issue after weeks of sometimes violent protests thatfollowed the
   Supreme Court's ruling on the Catalan leaders.

   Attending the rally, Jovita Mezquita, 69, praised DemocraticTsunami's
   initiatives, including its first protest, whichdisrupted Barcelona's
   airport in mid-October.

   "We have to be imaginative," she said.

   "We have to do thingsthat have impact in the world," she added, arguing
   thatseparatists were nottaken into accountin the rest of Spain.

   'Very complicated'

   But away from the protests, some Barcelona residents wereskeptical that
   things could change for the region, whereseparatism is a highly
   divisive issue.

   "I see [it as] very complicated for the situation in Catalonia to be
   resolved, because at the national level, that isto say at the Spanish
   level, I do not see that there is a greatdesire to do it," said Maria
   Rodriguez, a 33-year-old actress.

   Democratic Tsunami, which advocates nonviolent action,called on
   supporters to demonstrate across the regionSaturday afternoon and
   suggested there would be more to come ifSpanish politicians refused to
   engage with separatists.

   "As long as there is no dialogue, instability willcontinue," it said in
   a statement late Saturday. "The [Spanish] state will not be able to
   continue with repressionwithout having a citizens' response."

   The group, whose leadership remains unknown, said thecontroversial app
   it uses to organize events had received morethan 1,000 attacks.

   The campaign for Catalan independence has been mostlypeaceful for
   years, but some protests turned violent last month,with a minority of
   mostly young demonstrators torching cars andlaunching petrol bombs at
   police.

   Extra police

   Madrid sent around 2,500 additional national police officers --
   including anti-riot units -- to support Catalonia's regionalpolice
   force ahead of the election, a national police spokesmanin Barcelona
   told Reuters.

   The goal is to "guarantee that everyone can exercise theirright to
   vote," the spokesman said.

   A Catalan police spokeswoman declined to comment on theforce's security
   plans.

   Carme Martin, 68, who attended Saturday's protest, said shecould
   understand some of the youths' frustration after lastmonth's riots in
   Barcelona.

   "I don't like violence but [I understand] if it isdefensive," she said.

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