Demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona in support of the detained secessionist Catalan leaders last night as the region prepares for pivotal elections next week.
Hundreds of protesters carrying banners and flaming torches gathered outside the local government building in Placa de Sant Jaume where they were led through songs and chants.
Catalonia will vote on Thursday in a snap election called after Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked the regional government and dissolved the assembly in October.
Demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona in support of the detained secessionist Catalan leaders last night
The demonstration comes less than a week before the region goes to the polls to elect a new parliament
Hundreds of protesters carrying banners and flaming torches gathered outside the local government building in Placa de Sant Jaume where they were led through songs and chants
The decision was made immediately after the Catalan parliament voted to declare unilateral independence on following a referendum deemed illegal by Madrid.
Pro- and anti-secessionist parties are still neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of the vote with star candidates currently in jail or exile.
The upcoming election has also been closely scrutinised in neighbouring countries and the EU as a whole.
‘We have never seen so much interest from Spain or from the world in elections of a regional nature,’ Narciso Michavila, head of the GAD3 polling firm, said on Friday.
Catalans will elect 135 lawmakers in the regional parliament, which has been dominated by pro-independence parties since 2015.
All eyes are on whether the three separatist parties will maintain their absolute majority, and if they do, whether they will make another bid to break from Spain after their first attempt failed.
Crowds sing along to songs played by a guitarist at the demonstration yesterday
Pro- and anti-secessionist parties are still neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of the vote with star candidates currently in jail or exile
Catalans will elect 135 lawmakers in the regional parliament, which has been dominated by pro-independence parties since 2015
After the local government was sacked its leader, Carles Puigdemont, promptly fled to Belgium knowing he would likely be charged for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds.
His deputy Oriol Junqueras remained in Spain, only to be jailed pending an investigation into the same charges.
As such, their campaigning has been surreal.
At the head of a list called Together for Catalonia, Puigdemont has campaigned from afar, using video appearances and social media.
Some 45,000 supporters even travelled to Belgium to see him on December 7.
All eyes are on whether the three separatist parties will maintain their absolute majority
The Catalan government was sacked by the Prime Minister after it voted to declare independence
He claims the elections are the ‘second round’ of an independence referendum held on October 1 despite a court ban, in which Catalan leaders said 90 percent voted to break from Spain, although only 43 percent turned out in a vote marred by police brutality.
Junqueras, meanwhile, is behind bars but remains the chief candidate for his Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party, which is favourite in many opinion polls.
The separatists’ campaign is centred on denouncing alleged rights violations and ‘repression’ by the central government, but it is unclear what stance they will take if they win.
Some want to engineer another breakaway from Spain, while others say Catalonia isn’t ready and needs more time.