Electoral authority rules out removing Barcelona's protest campsite ahead of general election

Spain's electoral authority (JEC) has ruled out removing the protest campsite in Barcelona's central Plaça Universitat square during the campaign week.

As such, it has disregarded Ciutadans' complaint regarding "people with carrying messages in line with pro-independence candidatures and political options" affecting their right to run a political campaign.

The electoral authority has, however, asked that protesters clear the access to a polling station located in the plaza during Sunday's general election.

Most of the unionist party's claims were dismissed, with the JEC highlighting the fact that not all of Plaça Universitat has been occupied and that Ciutadans themselves were still able to hold a campaign event in that very square.

Furthermore, the electoral authority has maintained that the young protesters participating in the campout have not been calling on people to vote for any particular party over another, that their demands do not only include independence, and that, in any case, removing them would be up to the competent governing authorities in charge of public order matters.