Thousands of Catalans are thronging the streets of Barcelona to mark their national day – the “Diada” – and show support for an independence referendum.

Catalonia’s pro-independence government plans to hold the referendum on 1 October, defying Spain which deems it illegal. Catalonia has passed a law to secede from Spain if the vote is Yes.

Opinion polls suggest the vote, if it takes place, will be very close.

With their own language and customs, Catalans already have much autonomy.

But there is a widespread feeling in the region – one of Spain’s richest – that too much of its tax revenue goes to Madrid.

Spain’s economic woes since the 2008 financial crisis – including chronic unemployment – have fuelled the pro-independence mood in Catalonia.

In recent days Spain’s Guardia Civil police have raided several Catalan printing shops suspected of preparing material for the referendum.

The crowd in central Barcelona is expected to swell to as many as 500,000, as Catalans of all ages descend on the city. Nearly 2,000 buses were chartered to bring people to the rally.

The crowd – many sporting T-shirts in the national colours – is to form a giant cross, the regional daily La Vanguardia reports.

The 11 September Diada marks the fall of Barcelona in the War of Spanish Succession in 1714 – a defeat for Catalan forces.

Last week Spain’s Constitutional Court placed a legal block on the independence referendum. A majority of Catalans want the vote to go ahead, polls suggest, to settle the thorny issue of independence.

The left-wing mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, cautiously backs the referendum, but has asked the Catalan parliament for guarantees to make the vote as inclusive as possible.

In November 2014, Catalonia held an unofficial “consultation” on independence – and some 80% of those who voted backed it.

But turnout then was relatively low and the vote was non-binding, as the Constitutional Court had ruled it illegal.

The crowd – many sporting T-shirts in the national colours – is to form a giant cross, the regional daily La Vanguardia reports.

The 11 September Diada marks the fall of Barcelona in the War of Spanish Succession in 1714 – a defeat for Catalan forces.

Last week Spain’s Constitutional Court placed a legal block on the independence referendum. A majority of Catalans want the vote to go ahead, polls suggest, to settle the thorny issue of independence.

The left-wing mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, cautiously backs the referendum, but has asked the Catalan parliament for guarantees to make the vote as inclusive as possible.

In November 2014, Catalonia held an unofficial “consultation” on independence – and some 80% of those who voted backed it.

But turnout then was relatively low and the vote was non-binding, as the Constitutional Court had ruled it illegal.</s>MADRID (AP) - Spanish media are reporting that the country's top court has preventively suspended the law that was meant to become Catalonia's transitional constitution if the northeastern region declares itself a separate nation.

The country's Constitutional Court has already suspended the law and decree calling for a referendum on secession while it considers the Spanish government's claim that it is unconstitutional.

Catalan leaders say they will go ahead with the Oct. 1 ballot anyway.

The state prosecutor's office said the chiefs of the three judicial police forces in Catalonia, including the regional Mossos police force, are being briefed Tuesday on their legal obligation to stop any actions toward holding a referendum.

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Catalans marked their national holiday by supporting the right to vote and become independent.

EDS NOTE : SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN: A boy wrapped with an "estelada" or independence flag waits for the metro at Plaza Cataluna station during the Catalan National Day, in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Some thousands of people are expected to rally in Barcelona to show their support for an independent Catalan nation and the right to vote in a controversial referendum that has been banned by Spain. (AP Photo / Santi Palacios)</s>BARCELONA - Thousands of Catalan separatists rallied on Monday to demand their region break away from Spain, in a show of strength three weeks ahead of an independence referendum banned by Madrid.

Draped in red, yellow and blue separatist flags - with one banner reading "Goodbye Spain" - they marched through central Barcelona in what many hope will be the last protest before independence.

"If there is huge mobilisation, they can't do anything in Madrid," says Jordi Calatayud, a 21-year-old economics student of the October 1 vote.

"Catalan people will make independence possible, if there are a lot of us, they can't stop us."

Some 400,000 people had signed up to join the demonstration in Barcelona, part of an escalating struggle between the wealthy northeastern province and Spain's central government.

The protest coincides with Catalonia's national day, the "Diada", which marks the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms.

Since 2012 the holiday has been used by separatists to press for an independent state.

"There are 20 days left (until the referendum) and the mobilisation that prompted this process remains intact," Catalonia's pro-independence president Carles Puigdemont told reporters.

Those against independence complained that a day meant for all Catalans had been hijacked by the separatists - and even more so this year ahead of the referendum.

"The theme of today's protest is 'Diada of the Yes'," Ines Arrimadas, the leader in Catalonia of the anti-independence Ciudadanos party, said on Spanish television.

"That means that those of us who aren't in favour of independence cannot participate," she added.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose conservative government is fiercely against the vote, wished Catalonia "a good day", calling "for a Diada of freedom, cohabitation and respect for all Catalans".

Demonstrators will take the shape of a giant "X" by gathering on the Paseo de Gracia and Aragon avenues in central Barcelona to represent the mark Catalans will make on their ballots during the referendum.

If the "Yes" side wins the vote, Catalonia's regional government has vowed to declare independence within 48 hours and set about building a sovereign state.

With Spain's central government promising to block the referendum, the pro-independence camp is keen to show that it can rally its troops - especially after participation in the "Diada" declined last year.

Rajoy's conservative government argues the vote violates the constitution, which states that only central authorities can call a referendum.

Following a legal challenge from his government, Spain's Constitutional Court suspended a referendum law that was fast-tracked through Catalonia's regional parliament on Wednesday.

Police have searched a Catalan printing house and a local weekly newspaper suspected of making ballots for the referendum while Spain's state prosecutor has launched criminal proceedings against Puigdemont and other Catalan officials.

In a survey by the Catalan Centre of Opinion Studies in July, 41.1 percent backed independence while 49.9 percent rejected it. Some 70 percent wanted a referendum, however, to settle the question once and for all.

Like the referendum held in Britain last year on the country's membership in the European Union, the issue in Catalonia pits rural areas - which are more pro-independence - against large urban centres like Barcelona that are more in favour of remaining in Spain.

Catalonia, which is roughly the same size as Belgium and has its own language and customs, already has significant powers over matters such as education and healthcare.

But Spain's economic problems, coupled with a perception that the wealthy northeastern region's 7.5 million people pay more in taxes to Madrid than they get in return, have pushed the independence question to the centre stage.

During the 2013 "Diada" demonstrators formed a human chain that crossed Catalonia.

The following year the demonstration took the shape of a giant "V" for "vote" down two of the main avenues of Barcelona. In 2015 the march resembled a human arrow.</s>Around one million Catalans rallied in Barcelona on Monday, waving red and yellow striped flags and banging drums, in a show of support for independence after Madrid moved to block a referendum on the region's split from Spain.

Sept. 11 marks the 'Diada', Catalonia's national day, which commemorates the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714 and is traditionally used by pro-independence activists to call for secession for the northeastern region with a distinct language.

However, this year's event had particular significance as a show of strength for the independence movement just three weeks ahead of a referendum on the issue which Madrid has declared illegal and taken steps to obstruct in the courts.

Demonstrators climbed on each others' shoulders to form human towers, a Catalan tradition, while others carried banners reading 'We're going to be a free country!' and 'Full of hope' while wearing fluorescent yellow t-shirts with the word 'yes'.

City police said on Twitter that around one million people took part, one of the highest turn-outs in recent years. Protesters said they hoped the vote would go ahead as planned on Oct. 1.

"We hope that we will be able to hold the referendum with total normality, because in a democracy it is normal to be able to vote," said German Freixas, a 42-year-old engineer accompanying his family to the rally.

"If the people want it to happen, it will go ahead."

The Constitutional Court last Thursday suspended the referendum after a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Police have since searched newspaper offices and printers for signs of any preparation for the referendum.

The head of Catalonia's regional government, Carles Puigdemont, told journalists on Monday: "It's not an option that the referendum won't go ahead. It's 20 days away and we've already overcome many hurdles."

Puigdemont is facing criminal charges of misuse of public money, disobedience and abuse of office for organizing the referendum. He is prepared to go to prison, he has said.

A majority of Catalonia's mayors have so far said they will allow the use of municipal facilities for the vote. The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, said on Monday she would do everything possible to allow people to vote but would not put civil servants' jobs at risk.

Polls have shown support for independence waning in recent years with those wanting a separate state in a minority. However, a majority of Catalans want to vote on the issue.

At a peaceful march in August, convened as a show of unity in the wake of Islamist attacks that killed 16, mostly in Barcelona, the king and Rajoy were booed and jeered by the crowds in a show of resentment towards Madrid.

Protesters on Monday held a minute of silence for the victims of the attacks.</s>BARCELONA (Reuters) - Around one million Catalans rallied in Barcelona on Monday, waving red and yellow striped flags and banging drums, in a show of support for independence after Madrid moved to block a referendum on the region’s split from Spain.

A man carries a sign that reads "Spain for sale" next to a huge banner reading "Independence Now" during a rally on Catalonia's national day 'La Diada' in Barcelona, Spain, September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Sept. 11 marks the ‘Diada’, Catalonia’s national day, which commemorates the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714 and is traditionally used by pro-independence activists to call for secession for the northeastern region with a distinct language.

However, this year’s event had particular significance as a show of strength for the independence movement just three weeks ahead of a referendum on the issue which Madrid has declared illegal and taken steps to obstruct in the courts.

Demonstrators climbed on each others’ shoulders to form human towers, a Catalan tradition, while others carried banners reading ‘We’re going to be a free country!’ and ‘Full of hope’ while wearing fluorescent yellow t-shirts with the word ‘yes’.

City police said on Twitter that around one million people took part, one of the highest turn-outs in recent years. Protesters said they hoped the vote would go ahead as planned on Oct. 1.

“We hope that we will be able to hold the referendum with total normality, because in a democracy it is normal to be able to vote,” said German Freixas, a 42-year-old engineer accompanying his family to the rally.

“If the people want it to happen, it will go ahead.”

The Constitutional Court last Thursday suspended the referendum after a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Police have since searched newspaper offices and printers for signs of any preparation for the referendum.

The head of Catalonia’s regional government, Carles Puigdemont, told journalists on Monday: “It’s not an option that the referendum won’t go ahead. It’s 20 days away and we’ve already overcome many hurdles.”

Puigdemont is facing criminal charges of misuse of public money, disobedience and abuse of office for organizing the referendum. He is prepared to go to prison, he has said.

A majority of Catalonia’s mayors have so far said they will allow the use of municipal facilities for the vote. The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, said on Monday she would do everything possible to allow people to vote but would not put civil servants’ jobs at risk.

Polls have shown support for independence waning in recent years with those wanting a separate state in a minority. However, a majority of Catalans want to vote on the issue.

At a peaceful march in August, convened as a show of unity in the wake of Islamist attacks that killed 16, mostly in Barcelona, the king and Rajoy were booed and jeered by the crowds in a show of resentment toward Madrid.

Protesters on Monday held a minute of silence for the victims of the attacks.</s>Thousands of people have attended a protest rally in Barcelona to show their support for an independence referendum in Catalonia.

Catalonia's pro-independence government is planning to hold a referendum on independence on 1 October, despite Spain deeming it illegal.</s>1 million rally in Barcelona for independence from Spain

A massive crowd around 1-million strong surged into the streets of Barcelona Monday to mark Catalonia’s national day – the “Diada” – and show support for an independence referendum that Spain’s central government says is illegal.

Catalonia’s pro-independence government plans to hold the referendum on Oct. 1 in defiance of Spain, the BBC reported. Catalonia has passed a law to secede from Spain if the vote is Yes.

Opinion polls suggest the vote, if it takes place, will be very close, the BBC reported. – READ MORE</s>Hundreds of thousands of Catalans were expected to rally on Monday to demand their region break away from Spain, in a show of strength three weeks ahead of a secession referendum banned by Madrid.

Nearly 400,000 people have signed up to join the demonstration in Barcelona, part of an escalating struggle between the wealthy northeastern province and Spain's central government.

The protest coincides with Catalonia's national day, the "Diada," which commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms.

Since 2012 the holiday has been used by separatists to press for an independent state -- but Catalonia's pro-separatist president Carles Puigdemont said this year's "Diada" was "very important".

"It is a day to express our will as a people, remembering the past, where we come from, but also to project ourselves into the future," he said in a speech broadcast on Catalan TV on the eve of the march.

"A future that we have in our hands and that we will democratically decide really soon."

Organisers have chartered some 1,800 buses to take people to Barcelona for the march, which gets underway at 17:14 (1514 GMT) -- a nod to the year 1714.

The demonstrators will take the shape of a giant "X" by gathering on the Paseo de Gracia and Aragon avenues in central Barcelona to represent the mark Catalans will make on their ballots during an independence referendum slated for October 1.

If the "Yes" side wins the vote, Catalonia's regional government has vowed to declare independence within 48 hours and set about building a sovereign state.

With the Spain's central government promising to block the referendum, the pro-independence camp is keen to show that it can rally its troops -- especially after participation in the Diada declined last year.

"This Diada everyone must ask themselves: what will you do on October 1? Help the vote or help to stop it?" Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said Sunday.

"History has called on us and it is a great honour but also a great responsibility."

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government argues the referendum violates the constitution, which states that Spain is indivisible.

"There will not be a referendum," Rajoy told officials from his conservative Party Popular on Saturday.

Following a legal challenge from Rajoy's government, Spain's Constitutional Court suspended a referendum law that was fast-tracked through Catalonia's regional parliament on Wednesday.

Police have searched Catalan printing houses suspected of making ballots for the referendum while Spain's state prosecutor has launched criminal proceedings against Puigdemont and other top Catalan officials.

In a survey by the Catalan Centre of Opinion Studies in July, 41.1 percent backed independence while 49.9 percent rejected it. Some 70 percent wanted a referendum, however, to settle the question once and for all.

Like the referendum held in Britain last year on the country's membership in the European Union, the issue in Catalonia pits rural areas -- which are more pro-independence -- against large urban centres like Barcelona that are more in favour of remaining within Spain.

Catalonia, which is roughly the same size of Belgium and has its own language and customs, already has significant powers over matters such as education and healthcare.

But Spain's economic problems, coupled with a perception that the wealthy northeastern region's 7.5 million people pay more in taxes to Madrid than they get in return, have pushed the independence question to centre stage.

During the "Diada" 2013 demonstrators formed a human chain that crossed Catalonia.

The following year the demonstration took the shape of a giant "V" for "vote" down two of the main avenues of Barcelona. In 2015 the march resembled a human arrow.</s>Thousands of people are expected to rally across Catalonia, an autonomous community in east Spain, on Monday to mark its National Day, in a show of support seeking independence from the country, The Guardian reported.

The ‘Diada’ day on September 11, which commemorates the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714, has turned into a political event since 2012. It is often used by activists to demand an independent state.

Jordi Sànchez, the president of the Catalan National Assembly, said the proposed October referendum had given significance to this year’s Diada. He said it showed a commitment to sovereignty through the vote and a desire to resolve the conflict that has been on for about six years.

“Today, for a lot of people, the Diada is the day when you can show your unequivocal support for a future that’s different from the past and the present,” he said.

This year, the day has a special name – “la Diada del Sí” is Catalan for the National Day of Yes.

Tensions have been high between Madrid and Catalonia since the Spanish government blocked Barcelona’s planned referendum to split from it. On September 6, Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont had signed a decree that officially called for a “self-determination referendum of Catalonia” on October 1. “Catalonia belongs to this world that looks forward, and that is why it will decide its own future on October 1,” Puigdemont had said.

On September 7, Spain’s Constitutional Court had suspended the referendum following a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Spain had said it was contrary to the Constitution, which specifies that only national authorities can call for such a referendum.

In November 2014, Catalonia had held an independence referendum, despite Spain’s Constitutional court declaring it illegal days earlier. A majority of the votes cast in that referendum were in favour of independence from Spain. However, the turnout was only 40%.</s>BARCELONA (Sputnik) — Catalonia’s National Day, the Diada, being held in the Spanish autonomous community on Monday less than three weeks before the much-anticipated referendum on independence from Spain, featured a major pro-independence rally in the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

Thousands of people holding the Estelada, the unofficial flag of Catalan independence supporters, have gathered in downtown Barcelona. For those who have not managed to get a flag in advance, vendors on the street offer to sell large ones for five euros ($5.99) and smaller ones for one euro.

The rally is organized by the Catalan National Assembly, which had announced that 450,000 people said they wanted to participate in the event. Per the organizers’ plan, at 5:14 p.m. local time (19:14 GMT), all the rally participants are to put on yellow T-shirts, symbolizing this year’s Diada, and flood into the Passeig de Gracia avenue and Carrer d’Arago thoroughfare, which run perpendicular to one another, in order to form a giant “yellow plus sign” which could be seen from the above.

​Some 300,000 Diada t-shirts have already been sold for this year’s celebration.

​The main events for Diada will be held at Placa de Catalunya, Barcelona’s central square. The rally will be attended by politicians, including Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, members of his cabinet, Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, and heads of public organizations. Two Nobel laureates will also be in attendance: Ahmed Galal (member of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet which had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015) and Argentine writer Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980.

Spanish politicians have been using the word “theater” when commenting on Catalan parliament’s activities last week when the regional legislature was in the process of passing laws on the independence referendum and the subsequent transition period. Specifically, the authority was amending the rules of its own operation, passing laws that contradict not only the position of the Spanish government but also the previous rulings of the nation’s Constitutional Court.

Early on Monday, a real theater performance, one not involving politicians, took place at Placa Sant Jaume, where Catalonia’s local governing body, Generalitat, is located. The play commemorates the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession on September 11, 1714, and the subsequent loss of Catalan liberties, institutions, and laws.

Both the supporters and the opponents of Catalonia’s independence believe that holding a referendum in necessary. According to recent polls, anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of the autonomous community’s residents support the referendum and believe that Madrid should allow the vote to happen.

However, even those who plan to vote for Catalonia’s secession from Spain do not believe the Spanish government will recognize the referendum results if a majority should happen to support the independence.

Some rally participants say that by prohibiting the referendum, Spain’s ruling People’s Party only strengthens the separatist sentiments among the Catalans.

During a press conference, Puigdemont said that the referendum will be held on October 1 as planned, because “there is no such force that would prevent the Catalans from voting,” adding that local security services will be able to maintain order during the vote.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had repeatedly said that no independence referendum would be allowed on October 1, has congratulated the Catalans on their National Day.
Around a million people rally in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia and to support the upcoming independence referendum on 1 October.