Jordiventura96, CC BY-SA 4.0

Amnesty International said Mr Hasél’s imprisonment was “excessive and disproportionate”, while thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Barcelona and Madrid to demand his release.

Police stormed the University of Lleida on Tuesday to arrest Mr Hasél, who had barricaded himself into a room at the university after missing a deadline to voluntarily enter prison to serve a sentence which had been handed down in 2018.

He will be jailed for nine months, disqualified for six years from employment in the public sector and will also be required to pay a fine of almost €30,000.

Esteban Beltrán, director of Amnesty International Spain, said: “No one should face criminal prosecution for expressing themselves on social media or for singing something that may be distasteful or shocking. Expressions that do not clearly and directly incite violence should not be criminalised.

“Pablo Hasél’s imprisonment is an excessive and disproportionate restriction on his freedom of expression, but he is not alone in suffering the consequences of unjust laws: many other artists, journalists or activists have received heavy fines or long periods of exclusion from the public sector. It’s a sad consequence for our society: self-censorship for fear of repression.

“If the articles of the Criminal Code are not amended, freedom of expression will continue to be silenced and artistic expression will continue to be restricted.”