VW Group Spanish unit Seat halted car production at its factory in Catalonia on Thursday and Friday because of ongoing strikes and unrest in the region.
Production at the factory in Martorell, just outside of Barcelona, stopped on Thursday at noon until Friday night during the Catalan general strike called for Friday.
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Workers at the factory, that employs 15,000 people, were not taking part in the general strike but Seat decided to close the plant because they feared the strikes would cause employees to encounter difficulties when arriving and leaving work, theolivepress.es reported.
Protesters had brought Catalonia to a standstill since the jailing of nine Catalan politicians earlier in the week.
Seat also expected delays in the deliveries of essential car parts because of the impact of strikes and road blockades in the region.
Around 25,000 students and pro-independence supporters gathered outside Barcelona city hall on Thursday to protest the jailing of nine Catalan separatist politicians.
Almost half of the workers at the factory (7,000) were told to stay at home after Seat cancelled five shifts.
The closure cost the automaker some 3,500 cars – 2,100 cars are made daily.
Seat has been affected by previous strikes by separatists in the region but this was the first time production had ground to a halt because of them.
"The plant is closed for the safety of workers, so they don't encounter problems arriving or leaving," said Matias Carnero, chairman of the UGT union in Catalonia.
The closure only affected the production side of the Seat factory in Martorell. The company encouraged office based employees to work from home though its offices remained open.
