In news from Europe, over 750,000 supporters of Catalan independence marched in Barcelona on Saturday calling on Spain to release eight members of the deposed Catalan government.
Protester: “I am here because there are political prisoners that should not be in jail. We are appalled, angry and mad because of the situation, because people don’t deserve it. We do things peacefully, with the desire to build a country and without any desire to hurt anyone.”
The Catalan leaders were jailed by Spain after the Catalan government declared independence on October 27. The region’s former president, Carles Puigdemont, who is now in Belgium, also faces charges. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy traveled to Barcelona on Sunday for the first time since imposing direct rule on Catalonia. He vowed to end what he described as “separatist havoc.”