Thousands of people took part in protests in several Spanish cities following the detention of Pablo Acel. They built barricades, threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at police officers and set fire to rubbish bins.
Asaltos a oficinas bancarias, contenedores ardiendo, enfrentamientos entre manifestantes y la policía por las calles del centro de Barcelona.
Todo nuestro apoyo a los compañeros desplegados y nuestra condena más enérgica a los violentos. pic.twitter.com/BbQkSHuQpH— SUP Baleares (@SUPBaleares) February 16, 2021
The protesters chanted: “Freedom for Pablo Acel” and “Death to the Spanish regime”. Several shops and the premises of one bank were vandalised.
About 30 people were injured as a result of the protests, eight of whom were hospitalised, the ambulance service said.
Earlier, a Spanish court sentenced Pablo Acel to nine months in prison for “insulting the royal house” and “praising terrorism” in a song about former Spanish King Juan Carlos I, as well as his Twitter posts between 2014 and 2016. Previously, in 2015, Acel was sentenced to two years’ probation for glorifying left-wing terrorism, but he was given a new sentence in 2018