Massive turnout at Catalan independence demonstration

Hundreds of thousands of Yes supporters in Catalonia hit the streets on 11 September 2015 in a new historical rally organised two weeks before a crucial election that was being framed as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (Gateway to the Catalan Republic) covered a 5.2k length of one of Barcelona’s main avenues, the Meridiana. People poured into the city waving the independence flag, known in Catalan as ‘estelada’. The Catalan News Agency claimed more than one million people filled the street of Barcelona.

The rally was the third annual large demonstration in support of independence that Catalans organise on 11 September, their National day. In previous years, up to 1.5 million people demonstrated in the streets.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: 1.8 million Catalans form an 11km-long flag mosaic supporting November's independence vote http://www.europeansources.info/record/1-8-million-catalans-form-an-11km-long-flag-mosaic-supporting-novembers-independence-vote/

ESO: Background information: Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/catalonian-parliamentary-election-2015/

CNA: News 11.09.15: Electoral campaign for the 27-S kicks off on Catalonia’s National Day http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/electoral-campaign-for-the-27-s-kicks-off-on-catalonia-s-national-day

El País 11.09.15: Secessionists make Catalonia Day their own as election campaign starts http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/11/inenglish/1441960113_417271.html

ESO: Background information: PP announces reform to allow Constitutional Court to punish Mas http://www.europeansources.info/record/pp-announces-reform-to-allow-constitutional-court-to-punish-mas/

El Punt 11.09.15: Madrid driving Catalans towards independence (via Euro|Topics) http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/presseschau/archiv/aehnliche/archiv_article/ARTICLE169593-Madrid-driving-Catalans-towards-independence

BBC News, 11.09.15: Catalan independence: Thousands to rally in Barcelona http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34219386

Deutsche Welle, 11.09.15: Hundreds of thousands gather in Barcelona to demand independence from Spain http://dw.com/p/1GVIH

El País 11.09.15: Hundreds of thousands flood streets of Barcelona to call for independence http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/11/inenglish/1441990282_640145.html

CNA: News, 11.09.15: 1.4 million people take to the streets calling for independence http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/1-4-million-people-take-to-the-streets-calling-for-independence

EUObserver, 11.09.15: Catalonia separatists to lock horns with Madrid https://euobserver.com/political/130210

EurActiv, 14.09.15: Catalan independence: Fears mount amongst separatist critics http://www.euractiv.com/sections/elections/catalan-independence-fears-mount-amongst-separatist-critics-317605

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