WATCH: Violence erupts in Spain as Catalan leaders are jailed
By Emilie Richardson & Aicha El Hammar Castano
Violent protests have been underway in Catalonia after Spain's Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan leaders to long prison sentences.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Police charge against demonstrators during clashes outside El Prat airport in Barcelona, Oct. 14, 2019. Riot police have charged at protesters outside Barcelona's airport after the Supreme Court sentenced 12 prominent Catalan separatists to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a 2017 push for the wealthy Spanish region's independence.
Many people in Catalonia have long sought independence from Spain to form a new European nation.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Policemen in riot gear move past a burning barricade during clashes with demonstrators in Barcelona, Oct. 15, 2019.
The protests broke out into riots on Tuesday when over 40,000 people took to the streets.
Gian Marco Benedetto/Polaris
Nine leaders of the Catalan independence movement were jailed on Monday for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid, sparking mass protests across the region, Oct. 14, 2019, in Barcelona.
Mar Grau/AP
Demonstrators walk along a highway in Girona, Spain, Oct. 16, 2019. Thousands of people have joined five large protest marches across Catalonia that are set to converge on Barcelona, as the restive region reels from two straight days of violent clashes between police and protesters.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Police officers clash with demonstrators outside El Prat airport in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 14, 2019.
Gian Marco Benedetto/Polaris
Nine leaders of the Catalan independence movement were jailed on Monday for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid, sparking mass protests across the region, Oct. 14, 2019, in Barcelona.
Spain's government said it would do whatever it takes to stop the violence and issued the statement that it "will act, if needed, with firmness, proportionality and unity."
Bernat Armangue/AP
Police clash with demonstrators during a protest at El Prat airport, on the outskirts of Barcelona, Oct. 14, 2019.
Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images
Demonstrators hold Catalan pro-independence "Estelada" flags as they march on the Nacional 2 road in Sils, near Girona, Oct. 16, 2019, a day after police arrested 51 people across Catalonia.