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Protests against the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél

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Protests against the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél
Barcelona, 16 February 2021
Date16 February 2021 – 27 February 2021
Location
Barcelona (principal), Girona, Lleida, Tarragona, Vic, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sabadell, Terrassa, Vilafranca del Penedès, Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao
Caused byTriggered by the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél for two final sentences for glorifying terrorism, Lèse-majesté and insulting state institutions.[1]
Casualties
Injuries220 (129 protesters and 91 Catalan police officers)
Arrested170[2]
Damagelooting,[3] Vic police station assaulted,[4] fire on Barcelona police van,[5] hundreds of containers and vehicles burned, €1.5M (Barcelona, 22 February),[6] €200,000 (Madrid, 20 February)[7]

On 16 February 2021, the Catalan rapper Pablo Hasél was arrested and imprisoned in his hometown of Lleida, Catalonia for two final sentences by order of the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid: a 2-year prison sentence for glorification of terrorism in his songs and a second sentence of 9 months in prison for glorification of terrorism in a song and several tweets, as well as a fine of 10,800 euros for Lèse-majesté and another of 6,750 euros for insulting state institutions, which add up to days in prison for each instalment he fails to pay. His imprisonment sparked a wave of protests and has coincided with the government's announcement of a reform of crimes related to freedom of expression.[1]

Starting from that night, supporters protested in several cities across Spain, with some protests involving violence and property damage.[8] The protests caused rifts in Spain's coalition government, between PSOE members supportive of the police, and Podemos members supportive of protests.[9][10]

Protests

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Broken display windows after the riots.

In Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, looting occurred at banks and businesses.[11] A female protester in the city lost an eye from a foam bullet fired by the Mossos d'Esquadra, the police force of Catalonia.[12] Violent unrest occurred in other Catalan cities, including Hasél's hometown of Lleida, as well as Vic, Girona and Reus.[13]

Outside of Catalonia, violence was reported at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid,[14] Valencia[15] and Bilbao.[16] The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, reported damages of €200,000.[7]

Reactions

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Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau, of En Comú Podem, condemned all violence and voiced support for the police.[17] This position was questioned by Dolors Sabater, a Popular Unity Candidacy member of the Parliament of Catalonia.[18] Almeida in Madrid acted in favour of the police,[7] while mayor Joan Ribó in Valencia criticised the police response as disproportionate.[19]

Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez said "in a full democracy like Spain, violence is inadmissible...violence is a denial of democracy".[20] The second deputy prime minister, Pablo Iglesias of Podemos, supported the protests; the first deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo condemned his position.[21]

The official Podemos Twitter account said "Every time that people denounce a democratic irregularity in the streets, the media powers put the focus on the unrest so that we stop debating the root problem, and nothing changes. The fact that we don't fall into that trap doesn't put us on the side of violence, but rather of democratic progress".[22] Podemos's parliamentary spokesperson, Pablo Echenique, publicly supported the protests and first condemned their violent elements on 22 February.[23]

In the Valencian Community, a similar government rift was reported between the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country and its allies from Podemos and the Coalició Compromís.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Pozas, Alberto (18 February 2021). "Las cuatro condenas de Pablo Hasél" [Pablo Hasél's four sentences] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Els Mossos han detingut un total de 109 persones en les protestes per Pablo Hasel" [The Mossos have detained a total of 109 people in the protests for Pablo Hasél] (in Catalan). vilaweb.cat. 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Barcelona stores attacked in Pablo Hasel protests". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Asalto en la comisaría de los Mossos de Vic: Los manifestantes revientan cristaleras y destrozan mobiliario - NIUS". 17 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Rambla rioter faces attempted murder charge for setting fire to Barcelona police van". March 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  6. ^ Benvenuty, Luis (22 February 2021). "La factura de una semana de disturbios se dispara y ya supera el millón y medio de euros" [The bill for a week of unrest shoots up and now exceeds one and half million euros]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Somolinos, Daniel; Durán, Luis F. (20 February 2021). "Madrid se blinda contra los violentos" [Madrid shields itself from violence]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Pablo Hasél protests: Violence in Spanish cities over rapper's jailing". BBC News. 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. ^ Cué, Carlos E. (21 February 2021). "Los socios del Gobierno de coalición: "Esto no puede seguir así"" [Members of the coalition government: "This can't carry on as it is"]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Así ha sido la semana más tensa en el Gobierno: Deslealtades, cruce de líneas rojas y reproche de Sánchez a Iglesias" [How the tensest week went in the Government: Disloyalty, crossing of red lines and Sánchez's reproach of Iglesias] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 21 February 2021. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  11. ^ Planas Bou, Carles (20 February 2021). "Saqueos y barricadas en la cuarta noche de protestas en Barcelona por caso el Hasél" [Looting and barricades on the fourth night of protests in Barcelona for the Hasél case]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  12. ^ Catá Figuls, Josep (17 February 2021). "Una joven herida durante los disturbios por la detención de Pablo Hasél en Barcelona pierde un ojo" [A young woman injured in the unrest against Pablo Hasél's imprisonment in Barcelona loses an eye]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  13. ^ Sánchez, Guillem (17 February 2021). "Graves disturbios en Catalunya tras la detención de Hasél" [Serious unrest in Catalonia after the imprisonment of Hasél]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Pablo Hasel: Violence in Madrid and Barcelona over rapper's jailing". Euronews. 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Valencia vive otra noche de violencia por la detención de Hasel" [Valencia witnesses another night of violence after the imprisonment of Hasél]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). 19 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Disturbios en la zona del Casco Viejo de Bilbao tras la manifestación de apoyo a Hasel" [Unrest in the Old Town area of Bilbao after the demonstration in support of Hasél]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 21 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Ada Colau rechaza los destrozos por las protestas por Hasél y apoya a la Policía" [Ada Colau condemns the destruction by the Hasél protests and supports the Police]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Sabater, contra Colau per haver condemnat els aldarulls de Barcelona" [Sabater, against Colau for having condemned the riots in Barcelona]. El Nacional (in Catalan). 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ^ Checa, Arturo (21 February 2021). "Ribó no es un alcalde de todos" [Ribó is not the mayor for everyone]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  20. ^ Vigario, David; Peñalosa, Gema (19 February 2021). "Pedro Sánchez rompe su silencio después de tres noches de disturbios: "En una democracia plena como España es inadmisible la violencia"" [Pedro Sánchez breaks his silence after three nights of unrest: "In a full democracy like Spain, violence is inadmissible"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  21. ^ "Los disturbios por la detención de Hasel provocan el enésimo choque Podemos-PSOE y el PP pide el cese de Iglesias" [Unrest following imprisonment of Hasél provokes yet another Podemos-PSOE clash and the PP asks for Iglesias to be removed]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Podemos justifica su postura ante los disturbios en "no caer en la trampa" del "poder mediático"" [Podemos justify their position on the unrest as "not falling into the trap" of "media powers"] (in Spanish). La Sexta. 21 February 2021. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  23. ^ Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel (22 February 2021). "Echenique condena por primera vez las protestas violentas por Pablo Hasél" [Echenique condemns the violent protests for Pablo Hasél for the first time]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  24. ^ Romero, Víctor (20 February 2021). "El caso Hasél abre otra brecha entre el PSOE valenciano y sus socios Compromís y Podem" [The Hasél case opens another rift between the Valencian PSOE and its Compromís and Podemos allies]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
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