Spain: rappers arrested for insulting the monarchy - flames and protests on the streets follow

Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Mallorca: Thousands of Spaniards protest for the release of the rapper Pablo Hasél.

He is in custody for insulting the monarchy and glorifying violence.

Madrid - Thousands of people protested in several cities in Spain against the arrest of the rapper Pablo Hasél for insulting the monarchy.

At the rallies on Tuesday evening there were clashes between demonstrators and the police in Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Girona, among others.

In the center of the Catalan capital Barcelona, ​​the protesters set fire to garbage containers, among other things, according to media estimates.

They erected street barricades and pelted the officials with stones, bottles and firecrackers and chanted slogans such as “Freedom for Pablo Hasél” or “Death to the Spanish regime”.

A young protester was seriously injured in one eye, reported the newspaper

La Vanguardia

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After the arrest of the rapper Pablo Hasel, thousands of Spaniards took to the streets - containers were on fire when the police tried to intervene.

© AFP / Josep Lago

On Tuesday morning, the police arrested the rapper who had been sentenced to prison for insulting the monarchy and glorifying violence.

Hasél barricaded himself in the university in the Catalan city of Lleida.

The 32-year-old, whose real name is Pablo Rivadulla Duró, had refused to serve the prison sentence voluntarily.

Dozens of students trying to avoid arrest were taken away by the police.

Video: Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Mallorca: Protests for imprisoned rapper Pablo Hasél

A court sentenced the musician, known in Spain for his sometimes radical texts, to nine months for insulting the royal family and glorifying violence in his lyrics.

Hasél called the former King Juan Carlos I *, who fled to Abu Dhabi after allegations of corruption and in view of judicial investigations, among other things, as a “thief” and built fantasies of violence against conservative politicians into his texts.

He himself sees this covered by freedom of expression.

The sentencing to prison is controversial in Spain.

The left government in Madrid wants to change the law so that someone like Hasél can no longer be sentenced to imprisonment.

For the rapper, however, this initiative comes too late.

(dpa)