Catalonia protest: One million descend on Barcelona for major independence rally and Diada celebrations

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Sean Morrison @seanmorrison_11 September 2018

About one million people have packed the streets of Barcelona to celebrate Catalonia’s commemorative day and boost a bid for independence.

The city’s streets were filled with demonstrators flying red and yellow Catalan flags as they marched chanting and singing during a "Diada" celebration on Tuesday evening.

The massive protest comes after regional president Quim Torra and his predecessor Carles Puigdemont made calls for residents to show continued support for independence from Spain.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who took office in June, has stood firm against a move towards the region’s independence but debate over the issue remains heated.

The city's streets were packed with pro-independence demonstrators
AFP/Getty Images

Local police estimated that about million people in total descended on the city for the protest and celebration, which marks the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714.

Divisions over the question of secession are stark in a region, which makes up about a fifth of Spain's economic output and has a high level of autonomy in areas including education and health and its own police force.

A July poll showed 46.7 per cent of Catalans said they wanted an independent state while 44.9 percent did not.

About one million people descended on Barcelona's streets according to estimates by local police
AP

A separatist coalition won regional elections in December, although the fervently pro-unionist Ciudadanos emerged as the single largest party.

Ciudadanos's leader, Barcelona-born Albert Rivera, said on Twitter the Diada had been turned into "a day of exclusion, hatred and attack on Spain".

Demonstrators were pictured flying flags and waving banners as they march through the city's streets
REUTERS

With the official slogan "Let's Make the Catalan Republic" printed on T-shirts and signs, protesters went silent at 5.14pm, which on a 24-hour clock is 1714 - the year when Barcelona fell in the Spanish War of Succession.

A loud cheer and cries of "independence" and "freedom" followed, sweeping along a 3.7-mile stretch of the city's Diagonal avenue.

In a giant symbolic wall, protesters toppled the image of a king of spades playing card, in an apparent rejection of the Spanish monarchy.

This year's demonstration comes nearly one year after an illegal referendum on secession held by Catalan authorities led to an ineffective independence declaration that received no international recognition.

Catalan separatist leaders and activists who pushed it, defying Spain's constitutional protection of territorial integrity, are either in prison awaiting trial or have fled the country.

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