via acampadabcnfoto
BARCELONA — Spanish police fired rubber bullets and swung truncheons to disperse anti-crisis protesters in a Barcelona square Friday as cleaning crews cleared their tent camp.
Catalan police in anti-riot gear moved in after about 50 protesters sat down on the street to block a convoy of cleaning trucks leaving the Plaza de Cataluna square with remnants of the encampment.
Police, some with plastic shields, were shown on television dragging protesters along the street and swiping with truncheons at activists, who had been chanting: "They shall not pass."
An AFP reporter at the scene saw rubber bullets fired.
The protest blockade was broken up within minutes but about 100 protesters regrouped in the square. They were surrounded by two police cordons blocking hundreds more people from entering from nearby roads.
Demonstrators chanted: "The people, united, will never be defeated!" and "No to violence!"
Cleaning crews with 10 lorries dismantled the last of the tents under police surveillance. Later, police left the square and let thousands of demonstrators flood in.
By the evening, at least 5,000 people were in the square protesting against the police intervention, some having put up tents. A dozen police vehicles were in streets leading to the square.
"What happened today was awful but it is a warning" for the country's leadership, said Ramon Deltran, 50, a psychiatrist.
"This is what police brutality achieves, that much more people protest. But also it is the fault of the politicians who don't listen to us," said Maite Loureiro, 30, an unemployed designer.
Continue reading - Police fire rubber bullets at protesters in Barcelona
Spanish Revolution
Carga policial en Acampada BCN
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