Catalans were quick to react to the news that nine independence leaders had been found guilty of sedition and handed stiff sentences of between nine and 13 years, and within minutes of the verdict’s announcement the streets of Barcelona and other major towns began to fill with protesters.

The atmosphere remained calm and the police maintained a discreet presence but there was a palpable sense of collective shock and anger. The majority of Catalans, separatist or not, have all along regarded the charges and now the sentences as disproportionate.

One protester in Barcelona carried a placard that read: No soy independentista pero tampoco soy gilipollas (I’m not pro-independence but I’m not an idiot either).

Central Barcelona was almost impassable to traffic as protesters gathered at various points in the city. School and university students filled the streets and were soon joined by office and municipal workers.

One student union called for “massive disobedience”, calling on students to be “the point of the lance of the people’s movement for independence”.

The umbrella group Tsunami Democràtic, which was formed to channel reaction to the sentence, has called on supporters to block the main terminal at Barcelona airport.

The rail service to the airport was cancelled at the request of the regional police force on Monday afternoon.

Thousands gather at Catalunya Square in Barcelona. Photograph: Marta Perez/EPA

A large crowd gathered outside the supreme court building in Barcelona where Marcel Mauri, leader of the grassroots organisation Òmnium Cultural, denounced the sentence as “vengeance” after learning that Òmnium’s former leader, Jordi Cuixart, had been sentenced to nine years in prison.

In Girona around 6,000 demonstrators massed outside the seat of the Spanish government in the province. The Girona local authority suspended all official activities, as did Tarragona, Catalonia’s second city.

A heavy police presence at key transport hubs prevented protesters from blocking major rail and road links as they have in the past but some minor roads were blocked in the north of the region. The national rail operator Renfe said train services were operating as normal.

Police also closed off access to the Parc de la Ciutadella which adjoins the Catalan parliament building in Barcelona.

The Catalan football federation called off all matches and training sessions in solidarity with the imprisoned leaders, while Barcelona football club condemned the sentences and called for dialogue.

The Committees for the Defence of the Republic, a direct action group, called for a “permanent mobilisation”.

“The people rule and the government obey”, they said in a statement, warning the Catalan government not to backtrack on its commitment to establishing an independent Catalan republic.



