Spanish police leave Catalan government building a day later

Spanish Guardia Civil officers finally left the Department of Economy of the Catalan government on Thursday morning, nearly 24 hours after the start of a major police operation to stop the preparations for the independence referendum to be held on October 1. In total, several Catalan government buildings were raided and 15 people were arrested — most of them high ranking officials of the Catalan executive, and who spent the night in jail.

The police operation started on Wednesday morning. Immediately after, people started to gather in front of the buildings being raided to peacefully protest the operation. In the end, thousands of protesters took to the streets on Wednesday — not only in Barcelona, but also in several Catalan towns as well as in some major Spanish cities.