General Strike Pickets Block AP-7, A-2 and Roads Into Barcelona

The general strike on Wednesday, Nov. 11, began with dozens of road blockades across Catalonia, according to the outlet El Nacional (go.eln.cat). By 9 a.m. the cuts affected all four Catalan provinces, with the worst effects on the AP-7 and A-2 motorways, the ring roads and the accesses to Barcelona.

The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police) are largely letting the pickets work and are not forcing the roads open. The force has labeled the afternoon demonstration in Barcelona as the highest risk level.

Where the roads are blocked around Barcelona

As of the 9.15 a.m. update, the AP-7 is cut in both directions at Llinars del Vallès, and exit 145 at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda is blocked. The A-2 is cut at Abrera heading toward Barcelona. The B-23 is cut between Sant Just Desvern and Sant Feliu de Llobregat, also toward the city, and exit 18A of the B-10 ring road at L’Hospitalet de Llobregat is closed in the Trinitat direction.

Pickets also blocked access to CIM Vallès, described as one of the country’s main logistics centers, from the B-140 at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda. Further cuts affect the C-58 between Montcada i Reixac and Ripollet, the C-32 at Sant Pere de Ribes, the C-31 at Vilanova i la Geltrú and Badalona, and the N-340 at Vilafranca del Penedès.

Cuts in Girona, Lleida and Tarragona

In the Girona area the AP-7 is cut in several places, including both directions at Sant Gregori. In Lleida, pickets blocked exits 467 and 507 of the A-2 and cut the LL-11 in both directions, and detours were set up along the A-2. In the Tarragona area the A-27 is cut at the entrance and exit of the port, and two exits of the AP-2 are blocked. The report says the site is a strategic point for freight and the petrochemical complex.

The cuts are described as dynamic: they shift as pickets move, so the list changes through the morning.

A picket member hit by a vehicle in Tarragona

A member of a picket was struck by a vehicle on the Joan Miró bridge, one of the access routes into Tarragona, where protesters were blocking traffic. Emergency services were sent and the person was taken to a hospital. In the same area, pickets burned tires to stop vehicles. The report also mentions early arguments between pickets and drivers who wanted to get past.

What this means for the day

Drivers heading to Barcelona and the provincial capitals face the heaviest delays in the morning, which police forecasts identify as the peak of road disruption. Alternative routes are also congested, according to the report, because many of the cuts affect both directions.

In the afternoon the focus moves to central Barcelona. The Comissaria General d’Informació (the Mossos intelligence unit) rated the planned march at level 4 for the risk of incidents, the maximum on its scale. It cited the expectation of a very large turnout and the chance that combative groups could cause disturbances, clashes with police and attacks on shops.

The Mossos deployment

The Mossos have mobilized more than nine thousand officers for the strike, about three thousand more than on an ordinary day. They are split across four shifts that run from Tuesday night until early Thursday. In Barcelona, where much of the deployment will be concentrated, the force is preparing a public-order operation with the Brigada Mòbil (BRIMO), the ARRO regional units, the intelligence unit and neighborhood security officers.

The police scenario matches what it planned before the strike: road and infrastructure blockades in the morning, and a risk of incidents in central Barcelona in the afternoon and evening.

Source: go.eln.cat