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Barcelona: 'It's a coup' Thousands Protest Over Power Transfer

Source: rt.com


People wave Catalan separatist flags during a demonstration organised by Catalan pro-independence movements ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and Omnium Cutural, following the imprisonment of their two leaders Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, in Barcelona.


The head of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, has denounced Madrid’s decision to transfer the powers from the regional authorities to the central government as a “coup” as hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Barcelona in protest.


Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said his government wants to dissolve the Catalan parliament and call a snap election to restore order in the region. 


He also said that the powers of the Catalan government would be temporarily transferred to Madrid, adding that the relevant proposal was already sent to the Senate for approval.


Madrid’s decision provoked a wave of outrage in the secessionist region as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of the regional capital, Barcelona, to voice their discontent with the central government’s move.


She said that the prime minister’s actions amount to a “de facto coup d’état” and strike “a blow to democracy.”


"Prime Minister Rajoy wants the parliament of Catalonia to stop being a democratic parliament, and we will not allow this to happen," Carme Forcadell said in a televised speech, as cited by Reuters.


"This is why we want to send to the citizens of this country a message of firmness and hope. We commit today, after the most serious attack against the Catalan institutions since they were restored, to the defence of the sovereignty of the parliament of Catalonia," she said. 


In response to the central government’s decision to transfer administrative powers from Barcelona to Madrid, hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the center of the Catalan capital. Some 450,000 people took part in the demonstration, AFP reported, citing local police.


The massive demonstration, which initially was expected to be a protest against the arrest of the two leaders of the separatist movement detained by the central Spanish authorities on suspicion of sedition, turned into a show of resistance against the latest measures taken by Madrid.


Large police forces were deployed to the area as Spanish authorities anticipated potential outbreaks of violence during the demonstration. However, the protest has so far been peaceful with no incidents were reported.



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