Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona today in a massive demonstration in support of Palestinians and against the war in Gaza. According to city authorities, police estimated the crowd at 70,000 participants.
The protesters filled the city’s main boulevard, Passeig de Gràcia, carrying Palestinian flags and wearing T-shirts with pro-Palestinian messages. Families, young people, and elderly citizens alike joined the march, creating a diverse and united front.
The protests in Barcelona and Madrid had been planned weeks in advance, but calls for demonstrations in Rome and Lisbon intensified after Israel intercepted a humanitarian flotilla that had departed from Barcelona toward Gaza.
Spanish Activists on Humanitarian Flotilla
More than 40 Spanish citizens, including the former mayor of Barcelona, were among the 450 activists on the flotilla stopped by Israel earlier this week. Israel began expelling the activists today.
Support for Palestinians has been rising in Spain in recent weeks, particularly as the left-leaning Spanish government increases diplomatic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right administration.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez previously described the destruction in Gaza as “genocide” and called for a ban on Israeli teams from international sporting events.
Protests Expand Across Southern Europe
Demonstrations are also scheduled to take place later today in Lisbon and Rome. On Friday, more than two million people across Italy participated in a one-day general strike in solidarity with Gaza’s civilians.
Calls for protests in Southern Europe come as Hamas announced it had accepted some elements of a peace plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Protest organizers hope to inspire further demonstrations across Europe and push European leaders to adopt a stronger stance against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
