Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Catalonia on Sunday (11 September) in a call for independence from Spain, amid efforts by local authorities to raise the region’s profile abroad and a domestic row over the budget.
According to local police around 850,000 people marched across five cities, including 540,000 in Barcelona to commemorate the fall of Barcelona and the subsequent loss of Catalan liberties, institutions and laws in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714.
Organisers claim over a million participants, the Spanish government delegation in the region said they were 350,000.
Two civil society groups, National Catalan Assembly and Omnium, organised the gatherings under the slogan “Ready”. Most people were dressed up in either T-shirts bearing the slogan or with the Catalan independence flag tied around their shoulders.