About One million people at Spanish unity rally in Barcelona

One million people joined a rally in favour of
Spanish unity in Barcelona on Sunday, the
central government’s representative in
Catalonia said, while municipal police
estimated turnout at 300,000. Organisers said 1.3 million people had taken
part in the demonstration, which comes two
days after Catalan lawmakers voted to
declare the wealthy region of 7.5 million
people an independent republic


Spaniards rallied in Catalonia’s capital
Barcelona Sunday, waving national and
European flags and chanting “Viva
Espana!” to denounce regional
lawmakers’ vote to sever the region from
Spain. Protesters swarmed, singing and clapping,
through Barcelona’s streets in a sea of red-
and-yellow Spanish flags, brandishing
placards reading “De Todos” (It belongs to
all of us). By lunchtime, police estimated some 300,000
anti-secessionists had flocked to the city
centre, while organisers put the crowd count
at 1.1 million. Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades
mounted on Friday when secessionists in the
Catalan parliament voted to declare the
wealthy northeastern region of some 7.5
million people an independent republic. The central government reacted by
temporarily stripping the region of its
autonomy, declaring the dismissal of
secessionist regional president Carles
Puigdemont and his executive. “We are all Catalonia,” proclaimed a
massive banner Sunday, as marchers, young
and old, chanted “Prison for Puigdemont”,
and “Long live Spain, long live Europe, long
live the King!” “I am enraged about what they are doing to
the country that my grandparents built,”
said protester Marina Fernandez, a 19-year-
old student from Girona, a separatist
stronghold. She said that in her hometown she cannot
speak out for Spanish unity or “leave my
house with the Spanish flag,” she told AFP. The deputy president of the deposed Catalan
government lashed out at Madrid,
meanwhile, over what he called a “coup
d’etat”. “The president of the country is and will
remain Carles Puigdemont,” the deposed
leader’s deputy, Oriol Junqueras, wrote in
Catalan newspaper El Punt Avui. – ‘They are dictators’ – Junqueras used the word “country” to
refer to Catalonia, and signed off as the
region’s “vice president”. “We cannot recognise the coup d’etat
against Catalonia, nor any of the anti-
democratic decisions that the PP (Rajoy’s
ruling Popular Party) is adopting by remote
control from Madrid,” he wrote. On top of firing Catalonia’s regional
government, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
dissolved its parliament and called December
21 elections for a new one. Flor Pena, a 59-year-old originally from the
northwestern autonomous region of Galicia,
described the separatists’ actions as
“shameful”. “The thing to do now is to beat them at the
polls,” she said. She was part of a throng gathered near the
spot where tens of thousands of people had
celebrated the new “republic” with song,
wine and fireworks two days earlier. “They have made fools of us,” Miguel
Angel Garcia Alcala, 70, who had travelled
from the town of Rubi, 22 kilometres (14
miles) from Barcelona, told AFP. “It is illegal what they have done… They
are dictators.” – ‘Viva Espana!’ – The Catalan crisis was triggered by a banned
independence referendum on October 1 that
was shunned by many and marred by police
violence. Ines Arramadas, leader of the anti-
secessionist Ciudadanos party, told
journalists at the march that most Catalans
wished to “recover our future”. “The majority of Catalans feel Catalan,
Spanish and European,” she said, a day
after thousands of people took part in a
similar march in Madrid. Representatives of Rajoy’s conservative PP
were also at Saturday’s rally, in what for
some resembled the start of an election
campaign. An opinion poll published in centre-right
newspaper El Mundo Sunday said separatist
parties would lose their majority in
Catalonia’s regional parliament if elections
were held today. – ‘Democratic opposition’ – As prosecutors prepared to file charges of
rebellion against Puigdemont next week, he
called Saturday for “democratic
opposition” to Madrid’s decision to impose
direct rule — the first curtailment of regional
autonomy since Francisco Franco’s 1939-75 dictatorship. The immigration minister of Belgium, itself
dealing with political tensions between
French- and Flemish-speaking residents, said
Sunday it could offer Puigdemont asylum. “It’s not unrealistic, looking at the current
situation,” Theo Francken, a member of the
Flemish separatist N-VA party, told
broadcaster VTM. Spain’s ambassador to France, Fernando
Carderera, meanwhile, said Puigdemont will
be “invited to present his candidacy” for
the December elections. Roughly the size of Belgium, Catalonia
accounts for about 16 percent of Spain’s
population and attracts more tourists than
any other region of Spain. It produces a fifth of Spain’s economic
output — making the region’s economy the
same size as Portugal’s. – Barca vs Madrid – Before the upheaval, Catalonia enjoyed
considerable autonomy, with control over
education, healthcare and policing. But while fiercely protective of their
language, culture and autonomy, Catalans are
divided on independence, according to polls. Spain has the backing of the United States and
allies in a secession-wary European Union
still reeling from Britain’s decision to leave. Many fear the economic impact as the
standoff drags on. Some 1,700 companies
have moved their legal headquarters out of
Catalonia due to the tension. Later on Sunday, Real Madrid football club,
supported by Rajoy, will face Puigdemont’s
favourite, Girona, in the Catalan side’s
home stadium. Independence Referendum Banned As Riot
Police Crack Down On Catalan Votes Spanish riot police firing rubber bullets forced
their way into activist-held polling stations in
Catalonia on Sunday as thousands turned out
to vote in an independence referendum
banned by Madrid.