The fifth night of violence begins even before dark. Hundreds of young people, almost all masked, are standing in the Via Laietana in the center of Barcelona, in front of them are burning two dumpsters. "A por ellos!", The men roar: "On them!"
This is shown by TV pictures and the videos of journalists on site. The slogan is a small salute to the Spanish police, who were ordered to Catalonia two years ago to prevent the Catalan independence referendum. "A por ellos", some officials sang at the time as they made their way to Catalonia in a team car. Hardly anyone has forgotten the video of the scene in Catalonia until today.
Les protestes violent d'aquesté divendres a Barcelona contra la policia es allargar unes 10 hores. Des de les 16h fins més enllà de les 2 de la matinada. Aquesta el moment en la barricada de Via Laietana començava a cremar. De fons apareixia and caricatura de Sánchez. pic.twitter.com/E6h2AubV3h
- Anna Punsí (@punsix) October 19, 2019A little later, stones pelt down on policemen who shoot with hard rubber bullets, beat up on demonstrators, in between the black smoke of the barricades.
The next morning, the authorities announce the results of the street battles: At least 152 people were treated in Barcelona alone by rescue workers, three police officers were injured.
Video: Burning barricades in Barcelona - 150 injured
AP
The violence is the beginning of a new phase in the conflict between Catalan separatists and the central Spanish state. Some of the Catalans have until now explicitly sought non-violently for their own state, peaceful people, the separatists emphasized again and again, be they.
Burning barricades instead of human chains
This is still true for a large majority, but that majority has lost control of a few hundred frustrated young people who have been burning garbage containers and barriers in Barcelona for five nights.
The staging of the protest also increasingly escapes the separatists. Their pursuit of independence can only succeed, it was long consensus, if the protest remains peaceful, if enough Spaniards and Europeans on their side.
The consensus is history. Instead of crowds and aerial photos of crowds, television now primarily shows burning barricades and Molotov cocktails, and the riots are transmitted night after night, live at prime time, into the Spanish living rooms.
Friday had begun in Barcelona with familiar pictures. On this day, five so-called peace marches reached the city center of Barcelona. More than 500,000 people poured into the city from different directions, and the separatists called for a general strike. Three days ago, the marches began, as a sign of protest against Monday's verdict.
Hard judgment ignites the protests
The Madrid Supreme Court had sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to long prison terms of between 9 and 13 years. Among other things, because of riot, misappropriation of public funds and disobedience, but not because of "rebelión", as the prosecutor's office had demanded. Otherwise the verdict would have been even harder.
The verdict of the court marks the end of a process that the separatists had arranged to divide Catalonia from Spain. The highlights:
- On November 27, 2015, a coalition of the two major separatist parties won the parliamentary elections in Catalonia. The two parties had declared the election in advance of a referendum on independence.
- On 1 October 2017, the separatists held - against the ban of the Constitutional Court - a referendum on the secession of Catalonia from Spain. The police intervened.
- A little later, the separatist majority in parliament declared independence of the region.
The verdict makes it clear that the "procés" failed. In the meantime, fewer people are still participating in the still huge demonstrations, and acceptance of independence is declining. Currently, it is 44 percent, as little as in two years not.
The peace marches that reached Barcelona on Friday are a traditional means of Catalan protest, well organized, always non-violent. But many separatists now realize that they are not leading to their goal.
Even within the camp of the independence advocates, one does not agree on how to proceed now. Activists come into the vacuum with new protest methods, organized via the Messenger Telegram and their own app: On Monday, thousands of Catalans paralyzed the airport in Barcelona. "Tsunami Democràtic" is the motto of this protest.
Some of the new methods are not enough
The activists were inspired in their action probably by the protests in Hong Kong. The goal seems clear: using more radical methods than before to force the Spanish government to the negotiating table. Make economic damage, attract more attention.
This is how Aniol Costa, 22, describes the new separatist strategy. Costa, a member of the separatist Left Republican youth organization, has just graduated from college, and in 2017 he helped organize large-scale peaceful protests that accompanied the political campaign as a student.
Especially young Catalan separatists are extremely frustrated, he says. "Our protests did not work, normal demos alone are not enough." The violence can understand Costa, but he does not support them. "In the end, the police always win," he says.
Since President Torra does not get through in Madrid, one must boycott big Spanish companies to put pressure on the government, says Costa. Posters are already circulating on the Internet to mark stores that allegedly "finance repression".
Some - especially teenagers and people early 20s - but it is not enough to block airports or to boycott companies. It is they who fight night after night with Catalan and Spanish policemen.
The young protesters grew up with the full-bodied promises of Catalan politicians. But after years of peaceful demos, they see no progress. The frustration about it unloads itself on the street.
No end to the violence in sight
Quim Torra, the Catalan president, has now distanced himself from the violence after days of hesitation. On Saturday he said again: "No form of violence represents us." However, he uses the protests at the same time to put pressure on the Spanish government. A negotiation process is as urgent as ever, he said.
It is unlikely that the violence will abate quickly. On 10th November the Spaniards will vote for a new parliament. Until then, the street battles may continue, with only a few currently having a serious interest in de-escalation.
On Sunday, the right-wing Liberal party called Ciudadanos for a demonstration in Barcelona against separatism. Always pulled back with such demos in the past, right-wing extremists through Barcelona.
At least then it could come again to larger clashes.