BARCELONA, Spain — Tens of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona as Spain, Italy, and Portugal gear up for mass, anti-Israel demonstrations to protest the war in Gaza.
People pack Barcelona’s wide Passeig de Gracia, the city’s main central boulevard. Many families turn out, along with people of all ages. Protesters carried Palestinian flags or wore t-shirts supporting Palestine. Hand-held signs bear messages like “Gaza hurts me,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Hands off the flotilla.”
While the protests will likely not sway Israel’s government, protesters hope they could inspire other demonstrations and encourage European leaders to take a harder line against Israel.
María Jesús Parra, 63, carries a Palestinian flag high after making an hour-long trip from her home in another town to Barcelona. She wants the European Union to act against what she described as the horrors she watches on televised news on a daily basis.
“How is it possible that we are witnessing a genocide happening live after what we [as Europe] experienced in the 1940s?” Parra says. “Now nobody can say they didn’t know what was happening.”
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Saturday, October 4, 2025
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