Barcelona police estimated on their Twitter account that about 540,000 people attended the rally in support of a legally-binding referendum that would achieve an independent Catalonia. Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont said that he plans to propose a government-approved binding independence referendum to secede from Spain by next year. Catalan National Day has long been used to mobilize the masses in support of secession from Spain. Polls show most Catalans support a referendum on independence, but are roughly divided over splitting from Spain. Only the far-left Podemos supports allowing Catalonia to hold an independence referendum.

Source: ABC News September 11, 2016 18:43 UTC