Police arrested 24 people in Spain's Basque region today during a day of strikes called in protest at the banning of parties linked to violent separatists Eta.
Strikers, mostly teachers and academic staff according to the regional government, held banners reading: "No to the violence of persecution, no to the banning of ideas".
Protesters chained themselves together and attempted to disrupt traffic by placing cement-filled oil drums on the road leading into the northern city of Bilbao.
Another two people hung themselves by harnesses from a bridge over a metro line, stopping trains running.
Spain's High Court banned two Basque parties for three years on Friday because of links to the guerrilla group Eta, preventing their participation in next month's general election.
Eta is a big issue in campaigning for the March 9th national elections, and the ruling Socialists are under fire from several quarters for having tried to negotiate with the group, which has killed more than 800 people in a 40-year fight for independence.