Peaceful Barcelona rally for jailed rapper devolves into clashes

Several thousand took to the streets for a fifth straight day in Barcelona and elsewhere to protest against the arrest of rapper Pablo Hasel.

A fifth night of peaceful protests to denounce the imprisonment of Spanish rap artist Pablo Hasel has once more devolved into clashes between police and the members of fringe groups who set up street barricades and smashed storefront windows in central Barcelona. Small groups made up mostly of young people began their nightly cat-and-mouse game with officers on Saturday evening, an hour after several thousand protesters gathered in the capital of the Catalonia region, which also was where the worst violence took place during earlier demonstrations this week. On Saturday, rioters looted stores on Barcelona’s main shopping street and then threw stones after police in riot gear poured out of vans to engage them.