Tsunami Democràtic activists block main highway near French border

Pro-independence protest group Tsunami Democràtic have blocked the AP-7 highway near the French border as part of a protest aimed at being a “call to the international community to make Spain understand that the only way is to sit down and talk.” 

The highway is already cut going both directions, as the anonymous collective of activists begin their three days of protest, in what they are describing their “most ambitious” action to date. 

A large stage has been erected in the middle of the highway, while a queue of cars stretches for 20km, stuck in the traffic jam. For the movement, the border cut represents a "new paradigm" that puts a "new form of peaceful civil disobedience" on the table, as they also warn Spain that without sitting and talking resolve the conflict, "the isolation will grow larger."

How the AP-7 highway looks right now, as the protest group Tsunami Democràtic call for a "massive" mobilization of people to block the border with France https://t.co/B91wczdFZX

— Catalan News (@catalannews) November 11, 2019

Protesters are urged to take part in the blocking of the AP-7 either with car or without, as Tsunami Democràtic aim for a "massive" mobilization of people. 

According to the activists, the Spanish state "made it clear" that if the people put their bodies on the line to defend their rights, Spain "will respond with direct police violence against people."

"In the action at the Barcelona airport, it was more than clear," the call to action from the protest group reads. For this reason, the movement proposes changing "the body to the vehicle," meaning to block the border with cars rather than only gathered people, and by being "massive, effective and precise", exercising "rights" and deactivating "violent repression."

Tsunami Democràtic organized the occupation of Barcelona airport on the day the verdict of the trial of the independence leaders was released, on October 14.