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The
stoppages, originally billed as a region-wide general strike but
disavowed by the country's largest unions, affected the public
sector, public transport and basic services.
Normally busy metro stations in Barcelona were deserted as
services were cut back sharply, pickets blocked traffic on Gran
Via street and traffic on six major highways in the region was
disrupted by protests.
Elsewhere, the response to the strike call was patchy with some
shops, supermarkets and cafes open and some closed. The Boqueria
market in Barcelona was almost empty.
Pro-independence groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a
general strike for Tuesday after Spanish police forcibly tried
to close polling stations on Sunday after a referendum on
Catalan independence from Spain was banned by the constitutional
court.
Scenes of armored Spanish police swinging truncheons and firing
rubber bullets at peaceful voters have been widely condemned,
with the European Union calling for talks to break the stalemate
between Madrid and Barcelona.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the ballot had
failed, while Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont vowed to continue
with the independence process after millions voted to leave.
Spain's two largest unions on Monday said they would not take
part in the general strike and also called for dialogue between
the central government and Catalonia, criticizing both the call
for independence and the heavy-handed police tactics.
"The UGT and the CCOO clearly state that we do not back this
position or this political strategy. We are not calling a
general strike for Oct. 3," they said on Monday.
However, many services under the control of the Catalan
government did see some stoppages, with public transport running
at around 40 percent, according to reports, while port workers
and civil servants also walked out.
Entrances to some government offices were blocked by crowds
protesting in favor of independence.
(Additional reporting by Robert Hetz; Writing by Paul Day;
Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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