La Vanguardia newspaper said that nine people were arrested during a police raid that started at 5am in various towns in Catalonia. File photo/ Reuters

Nine Catalan separatists were detained in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia early on Monday for planning violent actions, Spanish police said.

“The detentions were ordered by Spain’s High Court,” a spokeswoman for the Guardia Civil said, without giving details.

La Vanguardia newspaper said that nine people were arrested during a police raid that started at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) in various towns in Catalonia, including Sabadell and Parets del Valles.

The nine are separatists, La Vanguardia said, citing unidentified police sources. Documents and computer hardware were seized, it added.

The movement calling for Catalonia’s separation from Spain has been a major challenge for the country for years, triggering the country’s biggest political crisis in decades with a short-lived independence declaration in 2017.

However, this has been a peaceful movement characterized by mass protests.

Reuters