Catalonia pro-independence protesters ousted by police from major highway

Spanish police on Wednesday cleared out scores of protesters supporting Catalan independence who had trapped around 500 vehicles while blocking a major highway for more than 15 hours.

Regional and national police said they had dislodged around 200 protesters who had shut traffic on both sides of the AP-7 highway near Girona, a city with a strong Catalan pro-independence movement.

Some protesters threw small objects at police, but most walked away peacefully, Reuters reported. A secretive protest group called Democratic Tsunami claimed responsibility for the disruption, while another separatist group known as CDR said it had supported the protest.

On Tuesday, French riot police used tear gas to force out protesters who spent more than 24 hours blocking the same highway where it straddles France and Spain, in a disruption also organized by Democratic Tsunami.