Tens of thousands of people gather in Barcelona to claim for Catalonia's independence

Tens of thousands of people gathered on Friday in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona claiming independence from Spain.

The demonstration was organized by the Asamblea Nacional de Catalunya (the National Assembly of Catalonia) and Omnium Cultural, under the slogan "Let's start building a new country".

The independence supporters, according to the local police 1.4 million people and according to the organizers 2 million people, filled the 5 km of the Meridiana Street in Barcelona. Barcelona's underground was blocked at some points due to the large number of people.

The street was divided into 135 parts, which represented the 135 seats of the regional Parliament of Catalonia.

Sept. 11 is Catalonia's national holiday and this time coincides with the start of the electoral campaign for the regional elections, to be held on Sept. 27. The regional elections are framed as a vote on independence according to the political parties supporting it.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria criticized the regional government of Catalonia, La Generalitat, because of "its lack of neutrality" as according to her it is using the holiday for electoral purposes.

"It is campaign rally", she said.

The president of Catalonia, Artut Mas, called for early elections last august. His political party, Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya (CDC) and the left-wing pro-independence Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) presented a joint list called "Junts pel si" (Together for Yes).

According to the last poll published by the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), "Junts pel si" would win between 60 and 61 seats, and the pro-independence party Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) would win 8 seats, placing the pro-independence parties on the edge of absolute majority and representing 44 percent of the vote.

The Spanish government has always refused to hold a poll on Catalonia's independence from Spain as it breaches Spain's constitution. On Nov. 9, 2014, Catalonia held a symbolic poll, when around 2.2 million people voted and 80 percent showed their support for independence.

Every Sept. 11, Catalonia celebrates La Diada, its "national day", which commemorates the defeat of the Catalan troops on Sept, 11, 1714 against the army of the Prince Felipe the fifth, a fact that implied a loss of self-government for the Catalan people.

Source: XINHUA