From outrage to celebration: parties react to arrests of pro-independence activists

Catalan parties reaction to the police crackdown on pro-independence activists on Tuesday morning range from outrage to celebration. Two different police operations led to the arrests of at least seven people for their role in recent protests.

The Spanish Guardia Civil arrested a member of the Committees in Defense of the Republic (CDR), a network of local groups that have been protesting in the past few weeks by cutting off roads and opening up toll boths. The woman detained is accused of rebellion and terrorism. The police is also looking for a man after not finding him in his home on Tuesday morning. They are both investigated for "coordination and direction of activities during the sabotage events" during Easter.

In a different operation, the Catalan police arrested six people in relation to the protests that took place in front of Parliament on January 30, the day when the swearing-in ceremony for deposed president Carles Puigdemont was suspended.

Parliament speaker Roger Torrent decided to postpone the investiture debate after the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled that Puigdemont, who left for Belgium last October, could not retake office from abroad. The decision sparked outrage among protesters, who broke through a police cordon and encircled the parliament building.