NI REI NI POR by Gian Marco Benedetto

A man wears a mask symbol of fr...19. Barcelona, Spain)

A man wears a mask symbol of freedom for political prisoners after the Supreme Court has condemned: Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Jordi Turull, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell, Joaquim Forn, Josep Rull, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, barely between 13 and 9 years in prison for sedition and embezzlement. Following the verdict, furious protests have ripped through the streets of Catalonia with three key lines expressed by social networks: the exercise and recognition of the right to self-determination; freedom for the prisoners, exiles and those suffering reprisals by the state; and full exercise of fundamental rights. The movement encompasses different factions, from long-standing separatist groups ANC (Assemblea Nacional Catalana) and Òmnium, to absolute newcomers. Among the latter is a mysterious digital network called Tsunami Democràtic formed shortly before October 14.(November 9,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

People walking with symbols and...19. Barcelona, Spain)

People walking with symbols and flags for independence during the Catalan National day known as "la Diada" celebrated on September 11th every year to commemorate the loss of Catalonia's laws and institutions after the Siege of Barcelona in 1714. More and more divided after the attempted secession of 2017, the Catalan independentists have measured their forces in the Catalan capital in the least participation in the last eight years, a few weeks before the Supreme Court ruling after the trial of the procés. The Guàrdia Urbana of Barcelona estimates that some 600,000 people have attended, less than any other year since 2012 when massive independence protests began. (September 11,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Youths organize generalized pro...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Youths organize generalized protests, indefinite strikes, and concentrations of students that have also provoked the teasing and the anger of many Catalan citizens who weigh up how to cast their ballot – or whether to vote at all – while millions of Spaniards elsewhere, are watching with anger, frustration and sorrow from beyond the regional borders as a bitter battle plays out. Catalan independence has been fuel far-right sentiment across Spain where nationalists and anti-immigrant populists had not formed yet a political party till November, last elections. (October 17,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Tsunami Democràtic, ...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Tsunami Democràtic, an organization that claims to be an online grassroots movement, collapses the airport after that thousands of people responded to the call to head to the airport by cars, trains, metro and even on foot. Protesters quote "Be water" that has been co-opted by the Hong Kong protestors to describe the movement as fluid, fast-moving and adaptable. The Supreme Court’s jail sentences for 9 pro-independence leaders, has played a key role in re-launching the independence movement. On December 2019, Carles Puigdemont, the ex-premier of Catalonia who fled Spain to avoid arrest after heading the 2017 unilateral secession bid, in an article in 'The New York Times', defined that Spain is a model for Turkey and China, which copy its "authoritarian" and "anti-democratic" line. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

People walking on the highway t...19. Barcelona, Spain)

People walking on the highway to head to the airport. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Riot police shelter themselves ...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Riot police shelter themselves from balloons with colorful paint. The separatist movement is proud of its history of mostly peaceful campaigning. Officials have accused a relatively small number of agitators of provoking the recent riots. Spanish authorities suspect a secretive new group called Tsunami Democratic is using encrypted messages to orchestrate some of the attacks in the streets by using an app designed to expand and interact with a network of contacts that share the same QR code, to allow, to organize, promote and coordinate new actions and forms of protest. The group gained nearly 340,000 followers on its main channel in Telegram. A National Court judge ordered the closure of websites linked to the group. (October 26,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A red flag is waving at the air...ber 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A red flag is waving at the airport. Spanish authorities decided to begin investigating who is hiding behind the platform and the actions played by a new generation of activists who feel gagged and choose to define themselves "14-o generation". People, driven by "youths" start to challenge police and the State as a direct consequence of the route chosen to solve the problem: police and legal weapons used in a warlike context. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Protesters occupy the airport. ...ber 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Protesters occupy the airport. More than 150 flights were canceled, and several others were delayed as activists clashed with police. Apart from jailing the nine separatist leaders, the court also issued a European arrest warrant for former regional president Carles Puigdemont who managed to evade Spanish authorities after the failed 2017 independence bid and now lives in exile in Belgium. Madrid had previously sought his extradition but dropped the arrest warrant in mid-2018 after Germany refused to hand him over. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Riot squads act against protest...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Riot squads act against protesters. During the protests, police charged, shotted foam bullets and tear gas, rubber bullets, used water cannon, and injured journalists. The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe has expressed her concern at the reports of attacks on journalists covering the demonstrations in Catalonia, calling on the Spanish government to investigate abuse of power by law enforcement officials. The task of identifying the perpetrator of violence is one of the obligations of the police, even in the case that they are also exercised by the police. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A man is on the floor after bei...ber 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A man is on the floor after being injured by the police. During protests in Catalonia, four people have lost sight in one eye, another lost testicular mass. Rights group Amnesty International called on "all authorities" to refrain from contributing to the escalation of tensions in the streets and to respond "proportionally" to outbreaks of violence. In 2014 a ban on the use of rubber bullets as an anti-riot weapon was imposed on the Catalan police force following a high profile campaign led by victims who had lost vision. Then armed guards of Mossos de Esquadra only used "foam" bullet to control the altercations recorded in the Catalan streets, while National police and Guardia Civile used rubber bullets too because of "a scale of order" and the rules that allow using this riot gear "are above" what is established in the Catalan law.
(October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Students on the barricades on c...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Students on the barricades on campuses of Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University. The Union of Students of the Catalan Countries (SEPC) has called an indefinite strike in Catalan universities for Catalonian independence organizing each educational center with committees and assemblies demanding the centers be positioned. Students have occupied their university as part of the campaign to free the political prisoners in Catalonia, including those who have been jailed during the protests. Many of the prisoners are students themselves. The sentences were criticized by all seven of the region's public universities, who issued a manifesto condemning the "repression and erosion of freedoms and rights" and demanding the "immediate release of those unjustly convicted". But the move was denounced as "strange" in a joint statement by 800 university professors from Catalonia and other regions, who demanded its immediate withdrawal. (October 29,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

The protesters come forward aga...19. Barcelona, Spain)

The protesters come forward against security forces with stones in their hands chanted slogans such as “Out with the forces of occupation” “October 1st, neither forget nor forgive”, “You fascists are the terrorists” and “Antifascist Catalonia”. Simultaneous fires in the center of Barcelona during the altercations. Tsunami Democràtic is accused of terrorism in an ongoing investigation being carried out by the National High Court where the movement has been confirmed as a criminal organization driving people to commit terrorist attacks. (October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Armed guards take position outs...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Armed guards take position outside the National police central station on the street, where a group of people give back plastic balls, cans and even some plants. Professor of Catalan History, Jaume Sobrequés said "While the events of any type are never repeated mimetically throughout history, we can find in the historical analysis useful ideas to exercise this necessary 'violence' in order to achieve our national objectives. In any case, those mass actions carried out until today, being necessary and exemplary, have proved to be of little use, they have been more an exercise in collective dignity than an instrument to achieve freedom in the country. I don't tell each other what they have to do, or how they have to activate the new 'violence' that causes a 180 degree turn to the colossal energy that has burned - I don't say it was in vain - the Catalan people in recent years. The times of the new 'violence' has arrived". (October 26,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Masked youths start to hurling ...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Masked youths start to hurling cobblestones and flammable bottles, building barricades and setting dozens of bonfires with large garbage bins. Despite protesting is protected in most parts of the world by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, protesters have been scattered and get stuck in a thick, choking cloud of tear gas. The active component in tear gas serves mainly to send pain signals to the nervous system. When a tear gas canister explodes, CS powder sprays into the air and adheres to any moisture it can find — that means the tears in eyes, the sweat on the skin, the grease in hair, and the saliva and mucus that covers mouth and airways. (October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A palm tree burns in the dark w...ber 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A palm tree burns in the dark while police clash with Catalan protesters outside Camp Nou stadium. Supporters show independence slogans and masks of Barcelona's star Lionel Messi used to cover the faces and promote their independence bid by using the media coverage of the game between Barcelona, the Spanish league leader, and its fierce rival Real Madrid. Known as El Clasico and broadcast worldwide, the game was postponed from Oct. 26 to Dic. 18 fearing violent protests by the separatists (score 0-0). (Dicember 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Police intervention violently d...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Police intervention violently disperses protesters in Plaza Urquinaona (October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A youth shows his middle finger...19. Barcelona, Spain)

A youth shows his middle finger as a barricade burns behind him. Before the arrival of firefighters, the neighbors have taken fire extinguishers from the corridors of their building to try to put out the flames. The economic sector shows its concern about the impact on business activity and asks for dialogue to resolve the conflict. In their Twitter account, the police (Mossos) have explained that people are barricading in different streets of Barcelona and asked the citizens not to approach the red areas. They have also reported that protesters have made at least five pyrotechnic launches against the helicopter that flies over Barcelona to help control the protest. (October 17,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Police who want to expel the tr...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Police who want to expel the troublemakers to Plaza Urquinaona receive firecrackers and smoke bombs. Police vans raced down the street through barricades and then disperse people. Some people stayed to fight, further protesters ran away down the side streets. A climate of confusion was created because the tension then moved to the streets of the Eixample on which traffic was circulating. Confrontations with police that occurred between October and December 2019 produced multiple arrests and hundreds injured. (October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Firefighters extinguishing a ba...19. Barcelona, Spain)

Firefighters extinguishing a barricade on fire in the center of the town. What firefighters normally do when they find a barricade is to look at what elements are burning and make an analysis of the environment to be able to extinguish the fire in the most efficient way and that the smoke does not harm buildings. Billowing smoke, destroyed banks, and shops, Catalonia has been counting the political cost after protests swept across the region. The tourism association, Barcelona Oberta, estimates that economic activity in the city center – from shops, hotels, and restaurants – fell by between 30% and 50% in the week after the leaders were sentenced, either because fearful customers stayed away or businesses closed to avoid being looted. Hoteliers, restaurants, and shops say takings fell up to 50% after the violence, and future bookings may be hit. (October 19,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A man rides his bicycle through...19. Barcelona, Spain)

A man rides his bicycle through fire and barricades on the urban landscape. The movement driven by "frustration" as a result of the "repression" experienced asks Spain to sit and talk, to solve the problem. However, in an industrialized and globalized Spain, there is hardly hope for a new generation of activists who feel gagged and takes the street while the protests and the political paralysis leave the sensation of a dead-end. The "Catalan Republic" claims the value of the words "resistance", "unity", "referendum", "democracy", "rights" and "justice" while questioning Europe on identity issues. (October 18,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Police intervention on the high...ber 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Police intervention on the highway violently disperses a sit-in. Tsunami Democràtic cut off the main highway entry points into several big Catalan municipalities and several roads as a way to protest over leaders' jail sentences. During one of those mass march, people had been walking for three days to reach the Catalan capital in the so-called “freedom marches.” The highway, metro and train station were blocked off several times and mass protests were recorded also in the municipality of La Jonquera and in the border with France. Spanish and French police intervened on several occasions to remove road cuts, identify and arrest the perpetrators of sabotages and blocks. Drivers were also experiencing problems on the N-II, N-240, N-340 and N-420 national highways. (October 14,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

A young man takes a selfie whil...19. Barcelona, Spain)

A young man takes a selfie while the center of Barcelona was tense at various points of Passeig de Gracia, Pau Claris, and Diagonale because of police and protesters' actions to deal with the burning of some containers and the creation of barricades to contain the police advance. The riots in Barcelona have left significant damages to street furniture. Fomento Ministry counted the cost at millions of euros. The images of concentrations have also provoked the teasing of many citizens. Have been criticized for the exhibitionism, on many occasions in a comic tone, for the conditions in which youths are found in the photos on social networks. Especially when students occupied Plaza Universidad with camping tents and the "spokespersons" have posted a video asking families, businesses and individuals to help their 'demonstration' by bringing them solidarity and various products (tents, garbage bags) with the specification: "cookies and chocolate no, we have enough". (October 26,2019. Barcelona, Spain)

Gian Marco Benedetto

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