A top-flight match in Barcelona has blended sports with politics as Catalan activists seek an international audience. The match had been planned for October but was canceled due to widespread demonstrations.

Masked protesters set bins on fire and throw rocks and glass bottles at police who respond with foam bullets in a street near Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium as Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off Wednesday in the first Clasico of the season.

Demonstrators gather in Barcelona after Spain's top court upheld a court ruling disqualifying Catalan separatist president Quim Torra from office.

Protests in Barcelona on Catalan referendum anniversary

The nine separatists had been sentenced to long prison terms for their role in organizing a 2017 independence referendum. PM Sanchez says they are the first step in resolving the crisis between Madrid and Catalonia.

The meeting comes after the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders in an atempt to improve ties.

Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, along with two separatist allies, could now be extradited to Spain to face criminal charges.

Exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont "must be brought to justice," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says, a day after the former regional head was arrested in Italy after fleeing Spain.

Spain is still trying to extradite Carles Puigdemont over a 2017 Catalan independence vote conducted without Madrid's consent. The separatist leader said he would leave Italy but return for a hearing next month.

A new report suggests that the Spanish government used the controversial Pegasus software to monitor the phones of dozens of Catalan independence figures.

Catalan politicians and activists announced legal action in several countries, following reports that the government in Madrid used Pegasus spyware manufactured by the notorious Israeli firm NSO Group to monitor them.

Carles Puigdemont and two other MEPs had appealed a 2021 vote to strip them of legal immunity. They are wanted by Spanish authorities for their role in Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence in 2017.