Catelonians rally as crisis deepens
HUNDREDS of thousands backing Catalonia’s bid to secede from Spain packed Barcelona streets at the weekend.
The rally’s organisers called for 10 prominent members of the secessionist movement in the northeastern Spanish region to be freed from prison.
Eight former members of Catalonia’s dissolved cabinet and two activists are in jail while Spanish authorities investigate their alleged roles in promoting an illegal declaration of independence last month in violation of Spain’s Constitution.
A separate court in Madrid on Thursday granted bail to another six being investigated over the secession push.
“We want to tell the world that we want freedom for our prisoners and freedom for Catalonia,” National Catalan Assembly vice-president said Agusti Alcoberro told the crowd.
Police said 750,000 attended the rally, many carrying pro-independence “estelada” flags, with its white star and blue triangle superimposed over the redand-yellow Catalan colours.
Many also held signs saying in Catalan “Freedom Political Prisoners” and wore yellow ribbons as a symbol of their demands.
“Spanish authorities are violating many rights of freedom against our people and we come here to say that we are against that and to demand the release of our prisoners who are in prison unjustly,” said 30-year-old engineer Joan Carles Roses.
The pro-independence Republic Left party announced its jailed leader Oriol Junqueras would be its top candidate for the regional elections on December 21.
The Catalan party is including other jailed leaders in its list for the regional parliament.
Polls show Republic Left is favoured to win the ballot, although it will not secure an outright majority.
The Catalan conflict is the worst constitutional crisis to threaten Spain in almost four decades.
A day after Catalonia’s Parliament voted in favour of a declaration of independence on October 27, Spain’s government activated extraordinary powers given to it by the Senate to fire the region’s government, dissolve its parliament and call local elections.
While those separatist leaders now in jail obeyed a summons to appear in court in Madrid, deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers fled to Belgium, where they now await an extradition hearing to return them to Spain.
Addressing the rally in Barcelona via a video message shown on a large screen, Mr Puigdemont said: “We need you all to be very active. We want to hear your voice, both those of us in Brussels and those in prison.”
He and his fellow separatists claim a referendum on secession held on October 1 gave them a mandate for independence, even though it had been prohibited by the nation’s highest court, failed to meet international standards and was boycotted by anti-independence parties.
Fewer than half of the electorate turned out to vote, and the referendum was also disrupted by brutal police raids.
No foreign power has yet recognised Catalonia’s claim to independence.
The European Union has warned an independent Catalonia would be cast out of the 28-nation bloc.
The most recent regional elections and opinion polls show that Catalonia’snia’s 7.5 million residents are split over remaining a part of Spain or going their own way.
Most pro-independence supporters feel that the
Catalan language and culture would have a better chance of flourishing in a separate state and that their economic prospects would be improved. AP