Lines of riot police clashed with some 200 protesters outside a Spanish cabinet meeting in Barcelona on Friday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had elected to hold the meeting there instead of Madrid to highlight his promises of decentralization and reduce tensions withthe Catalan separatist movement. However, his government's visit appeared to have done the opposite.

Some demonstrators even called the meeting was a clear provocation, coming on the anniversary of Madrid forcing Catalonia to hold snap elections after blocking its bid for independence.

Protesters threw rocks at officers and attempted to cross the police barricades cordoning off the area where Sanchez was meeting with his cabinet, hoping to approve a 22 percent increase of Spain's minimum wage and funding for infrastructure projects in Catalonia. Staunch independence supporters also blocked roads at some of the city's key intersections.

Elsewhere, thousands of peaceful protesters who gathered near Barcelona's Franca train station. "Occupying forces, out" read some of the signs.

Sanchez stalls

Catalan leader Quim Torra, a separatist, has said he will work with Sanchez to create an "effective dialogue" between Catalonia and the central government. Photographs of the pair together in Barcelona emerged on Thursday night, prompting anger from both men's supporters.

Sanchez, who took office last June, has tried to adopt a more conciliatory tone towards Catalonia than his hardline predecessor Mariano Rajoy. However, his efforts at reconciliation have stalled in recent weeks.

The prime minister has suggested certain compromises such as giving Catalonia more powers, something that has met with dismay by conservatives in parliament and has done little to move Torra, who wants to hold a legally-binding referendum on independence.

es/msh (AFP, AP)

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