Cerca de 200 personas han cortado el principal acceso de entrada y salida para camiones del Puerto de Tarragona con motivo de la huelga general de este jueves.

Fuentes del Puerto de Tarragona han explicado a Europa Press que el corte se ha producido sobre las 8 horas fuera del enclave portuario.

Los manifestantes siguen concentrados y, según han informado los Mossos d'Esquadra a Europa Press, procederán a desalojar la concentración en los próximos momentos.</s>"All I can do is stand up and talk about why I'm running," Warren said Saturday.</s>Strikers advocating for Catalonia to secede from Spain are blocking major highways, train tracks and roads across the northeastern region.

Thursday's general strike has been organized by unions of pro-independence workers and students. On paper, they are demanding improved social policies including a 35-hour work week and a higher minimum wage but the protests are being fueled by outrage at Spain for putting on trial a dozen separatists who pushed for Catalan independence in 2017.

Catalonia's transit authorities say the disruptions are affecting main thoroughfares in Barcelona and half a dozen major highways and railway tracks elsewhere in Catalonia. Protesters burned tires at one of the highways.

In Barcelona, students and the pro-secession group ANC are holding separate marches later Thursday. ANC's protest slogan is "self-determination is not a crime."</s>BARCELONA, Spain -- Strikers backing Catalonia's secession from Spain blocked major highways, train tracks and roads across the northeastern region on Thursday to protest the trial of a dozen separatist leaders.

The general strike was organized by small unions of pro-independence workers and students. On paper, they are demanding improved social policies including a 35-hour work week and a higher minimum wage, but the protesters carried pro-secession flags and chanted slogans for the release of the 12 separatists currently on trial in the Madrid-based Supreme Court.

Regional police reported some clashes as strikers formed human chains to stop traffic on several highways across Catalonia.

One protester was arrested for hitting an officer in downtown Barcelona, police said. Strikers, many of whom covered their faces, threw objects at a police line in a standoff on a rural highway before agents in riot gear advanced to disperse them. Protesters elsewhere burned tires on some highways.

Catalonia's transit authorities said the disruptions affected main thoroughfares in Barcelona and half a dozen major highways and railway tracks elsewhere in Catalonia.

The main unions in Catalonia did not back the strike.

In Barcelona, students and the pro-secession group ANC were planning separate marches later Thursday. ANC's protest slogan is "self-determination is not a crime." The Spanish government says regions cannot independently secede, according to the Constitution.

The trial into the roles played by the 12 separatists in Catalonia's failed 2017 secession attempt is in its second week. On Thursday, former Catalan government member Santi Vila and activists Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart are scheduled to testify at the court. The trial is expected to last for at least three months.

Election results and polls indicate that Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are equally divided over the secession issue.</s>The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

MADRID (AP) — Strikers advocating for Catalonia to secede from Spain are blocking major highways, train tracks and roads across the northeastern region.

Thursday’s general strike has been organized by unions of pro-independence workers and students. On paper, they are demanding improved social policies including a 35-hour work week and a higher minimum wage but the protests are being fueled by outrage at Spain for putting on trial a dozen separatists who pushed for Catalan independence in 2017.

Catalonia’s transit authorities say the disruptions are affecting main thoroughfares in Barcelona and half a dozen major highways and railway tracks elsewhere in Catalonia. Protesters burned tires at one of the highways.

In Barcelona, students and the pro-secession group ANC are holding separate marches later Thursday. ANC’s protest slogan is “self-determination is not a crime.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.</s>Protesters backing Catalonia's secession from Spain clashed with police and blocked roads across the northeastern region Thursday during a student and worker strike over the trial of a dozen separatist leaders.

Regional police said four people were arrested when officers met resistance while trying to clear groups of protesters who had stopped traffic. The regional emergency service said 37 people were treated for minor injuries.

Twelve officers were also injured in the clashes, according to police. Protesters threw rocks at police lines and burned tires on some highways.

Regional transportation authorities said the protests disrupted traffic on main thoroughfares in Barcelona and affected travel on a half-dozen major highways and train lines elsewhere in Catalonia.

The general strike was organized by small unions of pro-independence workers and students. On paper, they were demanding improved social policies, including a 35-hour work week and a higher minimum wage.

However, the protesters carried pro-secession flags and chanted slogans for the release of the 12 separatists who are on trial in Spain's Madrid-based Supreme Court for their roles in a 2017 independence declaration.

The major labor unions in Catalonia did not back Thursday's strike, which appeared to have a limited impact on businesses.

In Barcelona, the region's capital, students in favor of secession held a mid-day march attended by 13,000 people, according to city police.

Tens of thousands more joined an evening march behind a banner that read "Self-determination is not a crime." A grassroots pro-secession group, ANC, organized the march.

The Spanish government says regions cannot independently secede, according to the Constitution.

The 12 Catalan separatists are charged with sedition and other alleged crimes for their roles in Catalonia's failed 2017 secession attempt. Three were scheduled to testify in court on Thursday.

Their trial is in its second week and is expected to last three months.

Election results and polls indicate that Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are divided down the middle over the secession issue.

AP journalist Aritz Parra contributed to this report from Madrid.

More AP coverage of Catalonia at https://apnews.com/Catalonia</s>GIRONA - Catalan activist groups burned tyres and tried to block highways across northeast Spain on Thursday as part of a day of protests against the trial of 12 separatist political leaders for their part in a declaration of independence in 2017.

Eleven highways in Catalonia were affected by the protests, police reported, adding that they were working to keep traffic flowing. Police said there had been some scuffles with protesters but no major incidents were reported.

Members of local groups, working under the name Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDRs), have staged similar protests across the region ever since the arrests following the illegal declaration of secession in the Catalan parliament.

The 12 Catalan separatist leaders went on trial in Madrid last week over the failed independence bid that triggered Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades.

On Thursday, pro-independence Catalans plan to strike as part of protests which will include marches held by supporters of civil groups Omnium and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) at midday and a bigger march in the evening.

The extent of the strike was not immediately clear while police said major roads had been reopened after initial obstructions to traffic had been removed.

Former ANC leader Jordi Sanchez and the ex-head of Omnium Jordi Cuixart are in the dock on Thursday as part of the trial which is expected to last for at least three months.

Defendants face charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, which they all deny.</s>Activists blocked roads and rail lines in Catalonia on Thursday as a region-wide strike began against the trial of separatist leaders for their role in a failed 2017 secession attempt.

Called by a small pro-independence union, Intersindical CSC, but without the backing of larger unions, the one-day strike was not widely followed in the northeastern region although it generated several protests.

Public transport in Barcelona was slower than usual but most shops remained open.

Traffic authorities in Catalonia said activists cut off around 20 roads, including the A7 highway that links Spain to France, the A2 between Madrid and Barcelona and the main entry points to the Mediterranean city.

Police cleared several of the road blocks and detained two protesters, a spokesman said.

Activists also briefly blocked train traffic by occupying the tracks at a station in Barcelona and in other parts of the region, according to the company that manages Spain’s rail network.

At midday, hundreds protested in the central University Square, where the city’s oldest university stands, and another demonstration is planned for the evening.

“We’re here in solidarity with those who are victims of a trial that just doesn’t hold water,” said Jaume Sole, a 45-year-old engineer.

The Catalan employers’ association has denounced the work stoppage as politically motivated.

Separatist parties and associations are backing it.

They began mobilising last week in solidarity with the Catalan separatist leaders on trial for pushing a secession referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban, and a subsequent short-lived declaration of independence.

On Saturday, around 200,000 people including regional president Quim Torra protested in central Barcelona, police said, behind a banner that read “self-determination is not a crime.”

Torra’s separatist executive has expressed solidarity with the strike and cancelled all official events planned for Thursday.

The trial of the Catalan separatists started on February 12 under intense domestic and foreign scrutiny.

It was due to last three months but the court on Wednesday sped up the process to try and finish the trial before snap general elections on April 28.

Catalonia’s former president Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium soon after the declaration of independence on October 27, 2017, is not among the defendants as Spain doesn’t judge people in absentia for major offences.

So far, those on trial have defended the peaceful nature of the secession movement.

They have justified holding the referendum on a democratic mandate they say they got from voters in Catalonia who handed separatist parties a majority in 2015 polls.

This prompted unusually outspoken comments from King Felipe VI on Wednesday who said it was “unacceptable to appeal to a so-called democracy that is above the law.”

Defendants have also said the proclamation of independence was a mere political declaration without legal effect.

On Thursday, Santi Vila, a regional government member at the time, said the referendum was actually “a big political mobilisation” rather than a plebiscite given the Constitutional Court had banned it.

“It was about tightening the rope without it breaking,” Vila, who faces up to seven years in jail for misuse of public funds and disobedience, told the court.

Prosecutors accuse the defendants of implementing a strategy concerted by the regional government, parliament and pro-independence associations to achieve secession outside the law.

They accuse nine of them of rebellion, a serious offence that implies a “violent uprising.”

Prosecutors point for instance to damage made to police cars during a pre-referendum protest on September 20, 2017, or claim separatists used citizens as “human walls” against police dispatched to stop the referendum.

Independence supporters and the defendant’s lawyers, however, argue there was never any violence.

Jordi Sanchez, head of the powerful ANC pro-independence association who was at the protest on September 20 and faces up to 17 years in prison, accused prosecutors of “criminalising and penalising a demonstration.”</s>Traffic authorities in the northeastern region said they had cut off around 20 roads, including the A7 highway that links Spain to France, the A2 between Madrid and Barcelona and the main entry points to the Mediterranean city.

READ MORE: Catalan separarists' trial: What you need to know

Police cleared several of the road blocks and detained two protesters, a spokesman said.

Activists also briefly blocked train traffic by occupying the tracks at a station in Barcelona and in other parts of the region, according to the company that manages Spain's rail network.

At midday, hundreds protested in the central University Square, where the city's oldest university stands, and another demonstration is planned for the evening.

"We're here in solidarity with those who are victims of a trial that just doesn't hold water," said Jaume Sole, a 45-year-old engineer.

The one-day strike has been called by Intersindical CSC, a small pro-independence union, to protest against the trial of 12 separatist leaders that opened last week at Madrid's Supreme Court.

The union has the support of separatist parties and associations, but not of the other bigger unions.

The Catalan employers' association, meanwhile, has denounced the work stoppage as politically-motivated.

The region's separatist government has expressed solidarity with the strike and cancelled all official events planned for Thursday.

The trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders and activists, nine of whom are accused of rebellion, started on February 12th under intense domestic and foreign scrutiny.

They are being tried for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban, and for a subsequent short-lived declaration of independence on October 27th.

Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont, who fled for Belgium soon after, is not among the defendants as Spain doesn't judge people in absentia for major offences.

READ ALSO: Spain's King Felipe speaks out during Catalan separatists' trial</s>Activists blocked roads in Catalonia before daybreak on Thursday at the start of a region-wide strike against the trial of separatist leaders for their role in a failed secession attempt in 2017.

Traffic authorities in the northeastern region said they had cut off around 20 roads, including the A7 highway that links Spain to France, the A2 between Madrid and Barcelona and the main entry points to the Mediterranean city.

Activists also blocked train traffic by occupying the tracks on two railway lines, according to the company that manages Spain's rail network.

The one-day strike has been called by Intersindical CSC, a small pro-independence union, to protest against the trial of 12 separatist leaders that opened last week at Madrid's Supreme Court.

The union has the support of separatist parties and associations, but not of the other bigger unions.

The Catalan employers' association, meanwhile, has denounced the work stoppage as politically-motivated.

The region's separatist government has expressed solidarity with the strike and cancelled all official events planned for Thursday.

The trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders and activists, nine of whom are accused of rebellion, started on February 12 under intense domestic and foreign scrutiny.

They are being tried for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban, and for a subsequent short-lived declaration of independence on October 27.

Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont, who fled for Belgium soon after, is not among the defendants as Spain doesn't judge people in absentia for major offences.
Separatists in Catalonia launch a general strike in protest of the trial of Catalonia independence leaders, with major participation of the educational community. Demonstrators block major roads, highways, train tracks and the entrance to the port of Tarragona.