Several protests began across Catalonia only minutes after Spain’s Supreme Court revealed the verdict on the 2017 referendum leaders on Monday morning.

At 1 pm, the Tsunami Democràtic group called on pro-independence activists to block the airport of Barcelona to “show Europe and the world the rejection of the sentence.”

Several key avenues in the city, such as Gran Via, Diagonal and Via Laietana, were cut off earlier in the day, with some spontaneous marches also springing up in the city.

Dozens of public servants, for instance, rallied outside the territory ministry in support of the convicted politicians and activists, especially the former territory minister, Josep Rull.

Meanwhile, from early morning, a heavy presence of Catalan and Spanish police guarded Catalonia’s main infrastructure points, including Barcelona’s Sants train station, Girona’s high-speed train station, Barcelona’s airport, and Tarragona’s port.

At 11am, the blocks affected C-31 highway in the northernmost part of the country, at Verges. Other main roads were also cut off, including C-66 in La Bisbal d’Empordà, C-17 in Vic.