Once again, a group of hooded vigilantes have staged a nocturnal raid to remove banners and symbols from Catalan buildings. This time, the targets were a banner calling for the release of Catalan political prisoners and a pro-independence estelada flag hung on the town hall in Cardadeu, in Barcelona province.
As can be seen in a video published on social media, six people took part in the action. One used a ladder to reach the first-floor terrace of the municipal building. Once there, it was easy for him to tear down the flag and the protest banner, and return to the street where his five collaborators were waiting.
Un grup de feixistes han arrancat estelada i pancarta per la llibertat de presos i preses. No farem ni una passa enrere, #Cardedeu és i serà un poble antifeixista! #NoPassaran pic.twitter.com/Dua83poMRE
— Hug Lucchetti (@HugCardedeu) 16 de març de 2019
A Cardedeu municipal councillor for the CUP party, Hug Lucchetti, denounced the action and affirmed that "Cardedeu is and will remain an anti-fascist town."
There have been other similar vigilante attacks on Catalan government and municipal buildings in the last week, since Spain's Central Electoral Board ruled that yellow ribbons, estelada flags and other "ideological or partisan symbols" on public buildings, had to be removed due to the proximity of elections. The Catalan government has not removed its banners and ribbons, and is appealing the ruling.