Catalan protesters cause chaos and flight cancellations at Barcelona Airport

Hundreds of Catalan protesters were able to partially shut down Barcelona El Prat Airport yesterday evening after the High Court of Spain gave prison sentences varying from 9 to 13 years to nine political activists and leaders of the Catalan Independence Referendum of 2017. In Madrid, protesters blocked several access roads to the airports.

Prison sentences of Catalan leaders lead to high tensions in Spain

Yesterday evening, October 14 2019, tensions rose to an all new high in Barcelona and Madrid after the High Court of Spain imposed prison sentences on nine Catalan activists and political leaders for their part in the 2017 illegal referendum. The High Court also issued an international warrant for the arrest of Catalan leader Puigdemont, currently holding up in Belgium, which caused anger among Catalan action group Tsunami Democrático. Fifty people got injured during the protests. The protesters announced a new action for October 26.

Blocked roads, protests and cancelled flights at Barcelona and Madrid Airport

The Airport of Barcelona was blocked by hundreds of protesters yesterday evening. This resulted in 112 cancelled flights from and to Barcelona due to the safety situation at the airport. Six flights between the UK and Barcelona were cancelled. To prevent further chaos, the police temporarily shut down the public transport from and to the airport. In Madrid, several access roads from and to the airport were obstructed by protesters. No flights were affected. On October 15, seven more flights between Barcelona and the UK were cancelled.

Your rights for a cancelled flight by political tensions

When your flight was cancelled by protests or political tensions, you are not entitled to compensation. The airline is not responsible for a such situations, making the flight related problems such as delay or cancellation an extraordinary circumstance. If you had to make any extra costs for a new flight, hotel stay or parking, you can claim these back with the airline. If you are not sure what the reason for your flight cancellation was, you can check this in our claim calculator.

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