Ten of thousands of flag-waving demonstrators packed central Barcelona on Sunday to rally against plans by separatist leaders to declare Catalonia independent following a banned secession referendum. Rajoy’s stern warningRecent polls had indicated that Catalans are split on independence, though leaders said the violence during the referendum turned many against the state authorities. On the eve of the rally, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy issued a stern warning to Catalan leaders who have said they could declare independence this week. Calls for dialogueSunday’s rally came exactly one week after the contested vote that has triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades. ‘Break a people’With its own language and cultural traditions, demands for independence in Catalonia date back centuries but have surged during recent years of economic difficulty.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 08, 2017 12:22 UTC