Spanish unionists rally against exit in Catalonia

Massivemarch among signs against region’s secession.

Spanish BARCELONA,SPAIN— unionists in Catalonia fifinally found their voice on Sunday, resurrecting the Spanish flflag as a symbol of patriotismafter decades of it being associated with the Franco dictatorship.

In a defifiant challenge to plans by Catalonia’s regional government to unilaterally declare independence, hundreds of thousands ofpeople flflooded the streets of Barcelona in a surprising outpouring of Spanish unity.

They chanted “Don’t be fooled, Catalonia is Spain” and called for regional president Carles Puigdemont to go to prison for holding an illegal referendumlastweek. Some of the demonstrators took to rooftops, including families with children, and leaned over ledges from their perches overlooking the streets below to wave giant Spanish flflags in a city accustomedtotheprevalence of the Catalan “estelada.”

Spain’s red-and-yellowflflag has long been taboo here in Catalonia and throughout the country because it has been linked to groups supportive of Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. But on Sunday, a sea of Spanish flflags, interspersed with some Catalan and European Union flflags, dominated Barcelona’s boulevards.

Barcelona police said 350,000 people participated, while march organizers Societat Civil Catalana said that 930,000 people turned out. The march was peaceful and no major incidents were reported.

Puigdemont has pledged to push ahead for independence and is set to address the regional parliament on Tuesday “to report on the current political situation.” In the days after the Oct. 1 referendum, themomentum appeared to be on his side. Pro-independence protests wereattractinglargenumbers and he benefifited politically froma violent crackdown by Spanishpolice duringthe referendum voting.

But now the tide appears tobe turning. Catalonia’s top two banks announced they were relocating their headquarters to other parts of Spain because of financial uncertaintyifthereisanindependencedeclaration. Other companies are reportedly considering leaving Catalonia to avoid being cast out of the European Union and its common market in the case of secession.

AndSunday’smassdemonstrationbyprounder the slogan of “Let’s recoverour commonsense!” will put further pressure on Puigdemont. Themarchwas the largest pro-union showing since the rise of separatist sentiment in the prosperous northeastern region that has pushed Spain to the brink of a national crisis.

The rally comes a week after theCatalangovernment went ahead and held a referendum on secession that Spain’s top court had suspendedandthe Spanishgovernment said was illegal.

Catalan authorities say the “Yes” side won the referendumwith 90 percent of the vote, though only 43 percent of the region’s 5.3million eligible voters turned out in polling that was marred by police raids of polling stations on orders to confifiscate ballot boxes.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vows that his government will not allow Catalonia, which represents a fififth of Spain’s economy, to break away.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais publishedSunday, Rajoy said that he will consideremploying anymeasure “allowedby the law” to stop the region’s separatists.

Rajoy said that includes the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which would allow the central government to take control of the governance of a region “if the regional government does not comply with the obligations of the Constitution.”