There were protests in front of the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, the regional capital, with police estimating a crowd of 20,000. Flight riskA total of 20 people including Puigdemont, Junqueras and the speaker of the Catalan regional parliament had been summoned for questioning on Thursday. Independence driveCatalan demands for independence date back centuries but have surged in recent years, in part due to a difficult economic situation. Spanish police tried and failed to stop it, in some cases firing rubber bullets at people defending polling stations. A declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament followed last Friday.

Source: Manila Times November 03, 2017 03:56 UTC