Catalans opposed to the region's separation from Spain have held rallies in Barcelona amid the country's worst political crisis in decades. Madrid threatened to suspend Catalonia's autonomy if it declared independence.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Carvalho Ochoa
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Catalans calling themselves a "silent majority" opposed to their region's independence from Spain took to the streets in Barcelona on Sunday. Police estimated 350,000 people took part while organizers put the number of participants at nearly one million.
Thousands of people gathered on the city's Urquinaona square, waving Spanish, Catalan and EU flags while singing "Viva Espana."
The "Enough! Let's go back to reason" event was organized by the Catalan Civil Society (SCC), which called on Catalans to make "our voices heard" as the "silenced majority."
Catalonia 'not a state like Kosovo'
Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and former European Parliament President Josep Borell — a well-known Catalan socialist — addressed the protesters at the end of the rally.
"Besides Catalans, there are thousands of men and women from all corners of Spain who have come to tell her Catalan companions that they are not alone," said Llosa, a native Peruvian who received Spanish citizenship in 1993.
Borrell added that "Catalonia is not a state like Kosovo, where rights were systematically violated."
'Silent majority'
Spain has been plunged into political crisis since Catalan leaders went forward with an independence referendum on October 1, despite the country's constitutional court outlawing the vote.
The Catalan government on Friday said approximately 90 percent of those who voted opted for independence, although turnout was only 43 percent. Local media reported that many of those against independence boycotted the vote.
However, Sunday's demonstrations marked a departure from earlier rallies for independence. "We've stayed silent too long," Aleix, an anti-secession protester, told DW.
Some protesters even demanded that Catalonia's separatist leader Carles Puigdemont be imprisoned for holding the October 1 independence vote in defiance of Madrid.
Spanish security forces were widely criticized for their use of force during the independence referendum that left hundreds of people wounded.
Catalonia's independence movement — a brief history
The desire of many Catalans to gain independence from Spain has a long history. The region has experienced varying levels of autonomy and repression over the centuries.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Rich ancient heritage
Catalonia has been settled by the Phoenicians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, who were mainly in the coastal areas of Rosas and Empuries (above). Then came the Romans, who built more settlements and infrastructure. Catalonia remained a part of the Roman Empire until it was conquered by the Visigoths in the fifth century.
Image: Caos30
Counties and independence
Catalonia was conquered by Arabs in 711 AD. The Frankish king Charlemagne stopped their advance at Tours on the Loire River and, by 759, the north of Catalonia was once again Christian. In 1137, the counties that made up Catalonia entered an alliance with the Crown of Aragon.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archiv
Autonomy and the war of succession
In the 13th century, the institutions of Catalan self-administration were created under the banner of the Generalitat de Catalunya. After the unification of the Crown of Aragon with that of Castile in 1476, Aragon was largely able to keep its autonomic institutions. However, the Catalan revolt — from 1640 to 1659 — saw parts of Catalonia ceded to present-day France.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Remembrance of defeat
After the conquest of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, by the Bourbon King Phillip V, Catalan instuitutions were dissolved and self-administration came to an end. Every year, on September 11, Catalans commemorate the end of their right to autonomy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Gene
Federal ideas in wider republic
After the abdication of King Amadeo I of Spain, the first Spanish Republic was declared in February 1873. It lasted barely a year. The supporters of the Republic were split – one group supporting the idea of a centralized republic, the others wanting a federal system. Pictured here is Francisco Pi i Maragall, a supporter of federalism and one of five presidents of the short-lived republic.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Failed attempt
Catalonia sought to establish a new state within the Spanish republic, but this only served to exacerbate the differences between republicans, ultimately dividing and weakening them. In 1874, the monarchy and the House of Bourbon (led by King Alfonso XII, pictured here) took the helm.
Image: picture-alliance/Quagga Illustrations
Catalan Republic
Between 1923 — with the support of the monarchy, the army and the church — General Primo de Rivera declared a dictatorship. Catalonia became a center of opposition and resistance. After the end of the dictatorship, the politician Francesc Macia (pictured here) successfully pressed for important rights of autonomy for Catalonia.
The end of freedom
In the Second Spanish Republic, Catalan lawmakers worked on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. This was approved by the Spanish parliament in 1932. Francesc Macia was elected president of the Generalitat of Catalonia by the Catalan parliament. However, the victory of Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) put an end to all that.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Loss of liberties
The Franco regime ruled with an iron rod. Political parties were banned and the Catalan language and culture were surpressed.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
New autonomy by statute
After the first parliamentary elections that followed the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Generalitat of Catalonia was provisionally restored. Under the democratic Spanish constitution of 1978, Catalonia was given a new Statute of Autonomy just a year later.
The new Statute of Autonomy recognized the autonomy of Catalonia and the importance of the Catalan language. In comparison to the 1932 statute, it was enhanced in the fields of culture and education but curtailed when it came to the realm of justice. Pictured here is Jordi Pujol, the long-time head of the government of Catalonia after the dictatorship.
Image: Jose Gayarre
Stronger self-awareness
A desire for independence has grown stronger in recent years. In 2006, Catalonia was given a new statute that broadened the Catalan government's powers. However, it lost these after a complaint by the conservative Popular Party to the Constitutional Court of Spain.
Image: Reuters/A.Gea
First referendum
A referendum on independence was already envisaged for November 9, 2014. The first question was "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" In the case of an affirmative answer, the second question was posed: "Do you want this state to be independent?" However, the Constitutional Court suspended the vote.
Image: Reuters/G. Nacarino
Clash of the titans
Since January 2016, Carles Puigdemont has been president of the Catalan government. He proceeded with the separatist course of his predecessor Artur Mas and called the new referendum for October 1, 2017. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed this as unconstitutional.
"Ideally, it shouldn't be necessary to implement extreme solutions but for that not to happen things would have to be changed," the Spanish premier told the Madrid-based newspaper El Pais.
"I must do things at the proper time … I would like the threat of an independence declaration to be withdrawn as quickly as possible."
