Hundreds of people protest in Sants against the deteriorating Renfe service.

BarcelonaHundreds of people filled Barcelona's Sants station this Saturday morning to protest the deteriorating service provided by Renfe and Adif in Catalonia. The massive protest was called by the ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and resulted in the infrastructure being covered with Esteladas (Spanish flags) and banners. The organizing entity's intention is to collapse the company's service system and expose the deficiencies that exist with the Cercanías (local trains) in Catalonia.

Among the shouts heard in the building were insults against the state-owned company and also warnings to the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa. "Independence is the only way," shouted the protesters who gathered inside Sants station. "It's a premeditated disaster," criticized the president of the ANC, Lluís Llach, who considers it to be "colonial treatment by the metropolis." In this regard, Llach said the protesters gathered in Sants because "the chaos on the commuter trains is already unsustainable" and it represents a daily "disgrace" for thousands of users. "It's a humiliating disgrace for an advanced country, which is what we want," Llach said.