Nearly 20 People Injured in Barcelona Protest Over Visit of Felipe VI - Reports

According to the media, the king arrived on Sunday for the opening of the Mobile World Congress 2018 exhibition, making his first visit since the region held an independence referendum. There were some clashes with police, however, the protest for the most part was peaceful, 19 people received light injuries and were taken to hospital, the newspaper said.

The footage in social media shows crowds of protesters gathered in the city streets and police trying to prevent them from moving further.

The protest was reportedly organized by the Committees for the Defense of the Republic, a network of local assemblies promoting the autonomous region's independence from Madrid, especially, the Catalan independence referendum.

It is Unlikely Catalonia Will Become Independent in Near Future - Lecturer

31 January 2018, 20:16 GMT

The autonomous region of Catalonia held a referendum on independence on October 1, in which over 90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans, who participated in the vote, supported the region's secession from Spain. Madrid called the vote illegal and subsequently imposed direct rule over the autonomous region and dismissed its government. Several ministers of the former Catalan government were arrested, while former Generalitat President Carles Puigdemont managed to leave Spain for Belgium.