more-inThousands of demonstrators rallied across Madrid on Saturday, calling for Spanish unity and demanding action to resolve a volatile political crisis over plans by Catalan separatists to declare independence. Madrid’s central Colon Square was transformed into a sea of Spanish flags as several thousand people joined a “patriotic” march organised by activists to defend the unity of Spain. Hundreds of others, all dressed in white, gathered in a nearby plaza outside Madrid city hall in a separate rally calling for dialogue to end the crisis, among them families with young children. The rallies followed days of soaring tensions after police cracked down on voters during a banned October 1 Catalan independence referendum, prompting regional leaders to warn they would declare unilaterally declare independence in days. “Rajoy, you wuss, defend the nation!” chanted one group of young, mostly-male demonstrators as they marched into Colon Square waving Spanish flags as well as one bearing the Francoist Black eagle.

Source: The Hindu October 07, 2017 13:41 UTC