Spain to police border for ECB meeting: ministry

(MADRID) - Spain will re-establish checkpoints on the border with France this month in an effort to prevent violent demonstrations during a major finance meeting in Barcelona, the government said Monday.

It will temporarily suspend the open-frontier policy it respects as a member of Europe's free-movement Schengen treaty by setting up controls on parts of the border from April 24 to May 4.

The re-imposed border controls will coincide with a meeting of the European Central Bank on May 3.

"Reports by the state security forces have detected the possibility that anti-establishment organisations or movements could come for this meeting," an interior ministry official told AFP.

"This measure has been adopted as a precaution in case of disturbances by any anti-establishment group," the official added. "We are talking about acts of violence."

The bank's governing council at the meeting is due to discuss monetary policy at a time when Spain is a major focus of concern.

Pressure for Spain to stabilise its public finances is driving spending cuts and other austerity measures that have prompted mass street demonstrations, some of which have turned violent.

By establishing checkpoints on the border and at certain airports, Spain will temporarily suspend the Schengen accord that allows passport-free travel between 26 European states.

Under the Schengen treaty, member states are allowed to suspend the open-border policy temporarily on security grounds in certain cases.

"Schengen will be suspended on all national territory, but the measures re-establishing border controls will be strictest in the airports of Catalonia and on the border" with France, the source said.

Some 2,000 extra police may be deployed to bolster the regional force, the ministry added. Media reports said that some 6,000 police would be deployed in the region during the meeting overall.

Violent incidents broke out in central Barcelona on February 29 during demonstrations against Spain's austerity measures. Some protestors burnt bins and smashed windows and police fired rubber bullets.

Following those disturbances the conservative government said it was planning to introduce tougher penalties for rioters and organisers of demonstrations at which violence breaks out.