One million Catalans rally for freedom

BARCELONA: Around one million Catalans rallied in Barcelona on Tuesday, police said, banging drums and blowing whistles in a show of support for independence nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain.

They were attending a rally marking Catalonia’s "national day", which has since 2012 been used to call for secession. The attendance figure announced by municipal police was roughly the same as last year.

Catalan leader Quim Torra and his predecessor Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Brussels in October after Madrid stripped him of office over his secessionist ambitions, have urged a big turnout to show continued support for a split from Spain. "Our government has committed to making the republic a reality," Torra said on Monday in a televised address. "Long live free Catalonia."

Supporters of seceding the wealthy and politically divided northeastern region from the rest of the country have in recent years used the celebration of "Diada", the Sept 11 anniversary of the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714, to promote their cause with mass demonstrations.

Just under a year ago, Puigdemont’s pro-independence regional government held a referendum on independence, ruled unconstitutional by Madrid, followed by a unilateral declaration of independence. A key motif at this year’s event are yellow ribbons representing nine politicians and activists awaiting trial in jail for their role in that independence bid.

Their trials are expected to start later this year, a potential new source of tension as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tries to smooth relations with the region’s current leaders.