A few hundred demonstrators gathered in several cities in Spain, especially in Madrid and Barcelona, demanded on Saturday evening the release of rapper Pablo Hasél, imprisoned since mid-February for tweets attacking the monarchy and the police.
With cries of “Freedom for Pablo Hasél” or “we are anti-fascists”, several hundred people met in Madrid and marched in peace before dispersing at the request of the police.
In Barcelona, the epicenter of demonstrations in support of the Catalan rapper, a hundred participants beat the pavement behind a banner demanding "total amnesty for Pablo Hasél", again in a peaceful atmosphere, according to an AFP journalist.
A calm contrasting with the mobilizations of February, marked by an intense social rebellion and clashes.
Gatherings were planned in other Spanish cities such as Palma de Mallorca.
Debate on freedom of expression
Pablo Hasél, 32, was sentenced to nine months in prison for apologizing for terrorism, for calling King Juan Carlos I a "mafioso", praising people involved in attacks and accusing the police of having killed and tortured migrants and demonstrators.
His arrest on February 16 in rather spectacular circumstances at the University of Lleida, where he was barricaded with sympathizers, led to protests marked by incidents in several other cities in Spain such as Madrid, Valencia and Granada.
The imprisonment of Pablo Hasél also revived the debate on freedom of expression in Spain and reinforced the differences within the government coalition between the socialists of President Pedro Sanchez and the Podemos party (radical left) which supports the demonstrations.