Opposition slams 'intolerable' referendum protests

As the first anniversary of last year's independence referendum got under way on Monday, the head of the Ciutadans (Cs) opposition party responded with criticism of pro-independence protest groups and president Quim Torra.

The leader of Cs in Catalonia, Inés Arrimadas, slammed "separatist cells," in reference to the Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) pro-independence pressure group, for "cutting off roads, occupying public buildings and paralyzing Catalonia."

On Twitter on Monday morning, Arrimadas described the CDR's protest actions as "very serious," and went so far as to accuse Catalan president Quim Torra of "intolerable" behavior in encouraging the protests.

Earlier, Torra gave a speech approving pro-independence activists pressuring politicians. "You put pressure on us, and you must," said Torra, in an event in  Sant Julià de Ramis, near Girona, in front of a banner that read "the people decides, the government obeys".

The Cs leader also criticized Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, who she accused of "looking the other way." "What will it take for them to condemn this and break their agreement," she asked, referring to the fact that Sánchez came to power in part thanks to votes from pro-independence parties.

PP accuses Torra of being a 'pyromaniac'

The spokesman of the People's Party in the Catalan Parliament, Alejandro Fernández, urged President Torra to withdraw his support from pro-independence activists responsible for blocking roads and train lines.