MADRID/BARCELONA--Spain's Supreme Court on Monday jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for between nine and 13 years for their role in a failed independence bid, a decision that triggered mass protests in the region and left the future course of the dispute uncertain.
Barcelona's international airport became the focal point of the protests. As thousands rallied at its entrance, riot police charged at the crowd on several occasions using batons and firing foam balls to prevent the risk of a forced mass entry, police said. Two arrests had been made in the region.
Police warned on Twitter that some violent protesters were building barricades and hurling things at police.
La Vanguardia newspaper cited health services as saying 37 people required medical attention after the clashes.
The airport chaos saw over 100 flights cancelled and others delayed, while protesters in the separatist stronghold of Girona burned tyres on the train tracks, shutting the high-speed connection between Barcelona and France. Regional railways and roads were blocked at several places in the northeastern region.
Earlier, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the sentence signified the defeat of the independence movement, whose campaign has caused Spain's most serious political crisis since the death of dictator Francisco Franco four decades ago. A government source told Reuters the situation so far was considered under control, but cautioned it would likely remain risky at least until the weekend.
The strength of the protests could be the first indication of how the future looks for the independence struggle, which has so far been largely peaceful. Nor does the ruling answer the question of how to handle the separatism drive supported by nearly half of Catalonia's population.
"This sentence is an attack on democracy and the rights of all citizens," the president of the Catalan parliament, Roger Torrent, said. "Today we are all convicted, not just 12 people."
The case concerned an independence referendum that was held in October 2017 despite being ruled illegal by Spanish courts, and the subsequent short-lived declaration of independence.
The longest prison term - 13 years - was imposed on the Catalan government's former deputy leader, Oriol Junqueras. The court convicted him and eight other leaders on charges of sedition and four of them of misuse of public funds.
Three other defendants were found guilty only of disobedience and not sentenced to prison. All defendants were acquitted of the gravest charge, rebellion. "What happened on October 1 (in 2017) was not just a demonstration or a massive act of citizen protest," the Madrid court said in its ruling. "It was a tumultuous uprising encouraged by the accused, among many others."
Sanchez, a Socialist, said it was time to open a new chapter, but he did not elaborate. "Today's decision confirms the defeat of a movement that failed to gain internal support and international recognition," he said in a televised speech.
