19th April 2025
Barcelona News Catalonia News Madrid News Main News

Yellow ribbons to be removed from government buildings

Catalan President Quim Torra has released a statement stating that yellow ribbons will be removed from the façade of the government headquarters in Barcelona and other public buildings under the executive.

This follows a recommendation by the Catalan ombudsman that the symbols be ‘exceptionally’ removed ‘during the electoral campaign’. This, following a request by Quim Torra on Tuesday for the institution to weigh in, when he pledged to follow any recommendations given.

‘This is a temporary measure,’ proclaimed the ombudsman in a statement, which ‘should only be valid during the electoral period’ lasting until the Spanish elections on 28 April (with the last day of campaigning being 26th).

They clarified that ‘outside of the exceptionality of the electoral period,’ it ‘maintains the same criterion’ as shared in September 2018: positioning itself ‘against limiting the exercise of freedom of expression in a public space.’

Quim Torra
Catalan president Quim Torra in the Catalan parliament on 24 October 2018 (Lex Recolons)

The statement comes after the Spanish Electoral Authority ordered all ‘partisan’ symbols (referring to yellow ribbons in support of jailed and exiled pro-independence leaders and the ‘estelada’ Catalan independence flag) be removed from public buildings, following a complaint made by the unionist Ciudadanos (Cs) party.

The Spanish Electoral Authority issued a 48-hour deadline to the president to remove the yellow ribbons from government buildings on 11 March, which he ultimately defied. This was then followed by a similar order for the Barcelona mayor Ada Colau to do the same, which was followed, and then a second order to Torra.

On Tuesday, Catalan government spokesperson Elsa Artadi called into question the impartiality of the Electoral Authority, as two of its members are also judges presiding over the Catalan trial, the legal proceedings against some of the individuals the yellow ribbons stand in solidarity with.

Recent Posts

New high-speed train linking Madrid & Lisbon will cut journey time from 10 hours to three

News Desk

21 arrested as Spanish police dismantle ‘hugging pickpockets’ gang

News Desk

Spanish police discover underground shooting range used by gun traffickers

News Desk

Spain’s justice minister defends conduct of PM’s wife in corruption investigation

News Desk

Scrap ‘Google Tax’ and increase defence spending, Spanish minister told in Washington

News Desk

Vatican puts ‘God’s architect’, the Catalan Antoni Gaudí, on path to sainthood

News Desk

Leave a Comment