Catalonia independence protesters block dozens of roads

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Spain's Constitutional Court said Wednesday that it had annulled last month’s unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament.

"The declaration of independence of October 27 has been declared unconstitutional and void," a court spokeswoman said in a statement.

Dozens of Catalonia's roads were blocked Wednesday by protesters supporting a pro-independence general strike, which severely affected the education sector.

Demonstrators began moving onto around 60 roads across the region at around 6.00 a.m. causing massive traffic jams.

A large number of the protests centered on the main access routes in and out of Barcelona.

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont delivering a speech to Catalan mayors in Brussels, Belgium, November 7, 2017 /Reuters Photo

According to The Independent newspaper, although originally convened to protest minimal wage deals by one small pro-independence Catalan trade union, the strike was quickly adopted by several grassroots nationalist associations and political parties to protest against the incarceration of eight sacked nationalist ministers and the imposition of direct rule from Madrid.

The central government sacked Catalonia's president and dismissed its parliament hours after the region declared itself independent on October 27.

The Spanish government later dissolved parliament and set a date for regional elections on December 21.

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