Groups of pro-independence Catalans have blocked roads, motorways and a high-speed rail line in the region to mark the first anniversary of its unilateral and illegal independence referendum. The activists, members of the grassroots, direct-action Committees for the Defence of the Republic, occupied streets in Barcelona and Lleida as well as the motorways to Madrid and France.

They also obstructed the train line between Figueres, Girona and Barcelona. Services were restored by 10am local time. In Girona, protesters stormed a government office, tearing down the Spanish flag and replacing it with the pro-independence estelada (starred) banner. Catalonia’s nationalist president, Quim Torra, made a symbolic visit to a polling station in the small town of Sant Julià de Ramis, where police prevented his predecessor Carles Puigdemont from voting last October. Torra told the protesters to keep up the pressure. “Everything began on 1 October and everything goes back to 1 October,” he said. “The lesson of 1 October and its values are what we need as we face the coming weeks and months.”(theguardian)…[+]