What did the Catalan president say?
In a televised statement, Mr Torra said: "We will not permit incidents like those we are seeing in the streets. "This has to stop right now. There is no reason nor justification for burning cars, nor any other vandalism." On Wednesday, protesters hurled projectiles at riot police in Barcelona Mr Torra, who advocates independence for Catalonia, was speaking after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had made a direct appeal to him to condemn the violence. Pro-independence leaders - who control the Catalan regional government - said earlier they would keep pushing for a new referendum on secession from Spain.Why are people protesting?
The protests began after nine Catalan independence leaders were handed jail sentences of between nine and 13 years by Spain's Supreme Court on Monday. Riot police in Barcelona tried to disperse protesters who set up burning barricades The separatists were convicted of sedition over their role in an independence referendum in 2017, which Spain said was illegal. Another three were found guilty of disobedience and fined, but not jailed. All 12 defendants denied the charges. On Monday, thousands of protesters blocked roads to Barcelona's El Prat airport - a major transport hub. Clashes broke out on Monday as protesters blocked road access to Barcelona's El Prat airport More than 100 flights were cancelled as demonstrators fought running battles with riot police at the terminal buildings.What is behind the Catalonia unrest?
Catalan nationalists have long complained that their region, which has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years, sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, through taxes which are controlled by Madrid. The wealthy region is home to about 7.5 million people, with their own language, parliament, flag and anthem. In September, a march in Barcelona in support of Catalonia's independence from Spain drew crowds of about 600,000 people - one of the lowest turnouts in the eight-year history of the annual rally.DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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