Spain's northeastern Catalonia region and its riot-swept regional capital, Barcelona, were paralysed Friday by a mix of strikes and marches as it faced its fifth day of protests over the conviction of independence leaders.
Spanish central authorities said that 57 flights into and out of the region were cancelled for the day due to a general strike called by pro-independence unions, report AP.
Picketers also closed off to traffic the border with France across the Pyrenees and burned tires or blocked dozens of roads and highways across the northeastern region.
Commuter and long-distance train services were significantly reduced, and many shops and factories didn't open for business. Catalan authorities said that electricity consumption, a key indicator of industrial activity, was by noon 10.1 per cent lower than at the same time the previous day.
The effects were also felt in major tourism landmarks. Architect Antoni Gaudí's modernist Sagrada Familia closed its doors due to a protest blocking access to the basilica.
Naoya Suzuki, a 34-year-old tourist from Japan, complained about the disruptions to "people who have nothing to do with Spain."
"I've had a look at the news and I can just about understand why they are angry, but not why are they are doing all this and stopping the sightseeing of tourists," he said.
Highways were occupied by thousands of people joining five marches from inland towns that were expected to converge in Barcelona's city centre on Friday afternoon for a mass protest alongside striking students and workers.
Farmers in tractors joined some of the so-called "Freedom marches," organised by the grassroots pro-independence ANC and Omnium groups.
That followed clashes with police that broke out in cities across the region late on Thursday, for the fourth night in a row. In the capital, a mob of far-right anti-independence activists also tried to storm a separatist protest that drew thousands of people.
Health authorities in the region say that 42 people were injured Thursday night, most of them in the capital, and the regional police arrested 16 protesters, sending eight to jail, according to Spain's Interior Ministry.
The caretaker interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said that authorities are tracking "minority groups that are provoking incidents in very specific places," vowing to punish the radicals.
More than 200 people have been arrested since separatist sentiment swelled again this week following the imprisonment of nine separatist politicians and activists who led a push for independence that triggered Spain's deepest political crisis in decades.
Albert Ramón, a 43-year-old public servant joining a Friday rally in the northern city of Girona, said the convictions —including fines for three more separatists— had worsened the political climate.
"These verdicts violate fundamental rights and hence people are reacting," Ramón said.
The former head of the Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, on Friday avoided arrest after he voluntarily testified before Belgian judicial authorities over a new warrant that Spain issued this week following the sentences.
Spain is seeking Puigdemont on possible charges of sedition and misuse of public funds after previously failing to secure his extradition from Germany and Belgium on suspicion of rebellion.
Puigdemont fled to Brussels in late 2017 following the failed attempt to establish a new European republic in the wealthy region, and has since then campaigned for Catalan independence from there.
In May, he was elected as European lawmaker, but he wasn't sworn in because Spain's electoral board said he didn't qualify for the seat by failing to show up in Madrid to swear Spain's constitution.
The Belgian judge did not impose bail conditions while the case is being examined, making any immediate extradition unlikely.
The separatist leader told Belgian authorities that he rejects being sent back to Spain. He was ordered to remain in Belgium but can apply for permission to travel abroad, his lawyers said.
Puigdemont told reporters waiting outside of the prosecutor's office in Brussels that he did not fear justice "from a fair court."
Instability in the Catalan region has led to the postponement of next week's marquee football game between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The Spanish football federation said the game was being moved to avoid coinciding with a large separatist rally, as officials fear more violence. The two clubs have until Monday to decide on an alternative date.
Speaking about the recent wave of rioting, the Catalan regional security minister said the violence didn't represent the wider and peaceful separatist movement.
"The images that we are seeing in Barcelona and other Catalan towns don't match the civilised and peaceful mobilisation that we have seen in the past few years," Miquel Buch said.