Far-right protesters sing fascist anthem outside Barcelona city hall

Perhaps one of the last places in Barcelona you might expect to witness fascist anthems and salutes from hardline supporters of Spanish unity is the square of Sant Jaume, where the Catalan government and city council buildings are located.

More often associated with renditions of Catalonia's national anthem, Els Segadors (The Reapers), or Barcelona football club's anthem, Cant del Barça, on Sunday the square resounded with a chorus of the fascist anthem, Cara al Sol (Facing the Sun).

Some 200 people in Barcelona answered the call by the far-right Vox party to gather in front of local council buildings to protest Pedro Sánchez's new left-wing coalition on Sunday, with some of them in plaça Sant Jaume singing Cara al Sol and making fascist salutes.

After the protest began, a group carrying Francoist flags and symbols joined the demonstration and began singing the anthem of the fascist Falange movement while police separated them from a group of antifascist protesters who were also in the square.

Although the heavy police presence prevented any clashes between the two groups, Barcelona's local television channel, BTV, said its journalists were assaulted by a group of protesters who tried to prevent them from filming the demonstration.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

In Catalonia's northern provincial capital of Girona, another 200 antifascist protesters occupied the city's main square, Plaça del Vi, to try to prevent Vox supporters from carrying out their demonstration, and again police had to keep the two groups apart.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Tarragona, around a hundred Vox supporters gathered in front of the council building, where the demonstrators read out a text urging Sánchez to "respect the unity and sovereignty of Spain."