Hundreds of Thousands of Catalans Rally for Independence in Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain — Hundreds of thousands of pro-independence Catalans took over downtown Barcelona on Tuesday, in their largest show of force since a botched declaration of independence from Spain last October.

The rally on Catalonia’s national day, known as the Diada, was peaceful as the demonstrators deployed along almost 4 miles of the Diagonal, the main avenue that cuts across Barcelona. Many wore fluorescent pink T-shirts with a drawing of a mountain and the slogans “Let’s make the Catalan Republic” and “Straight to the peak.”

Still, many demonstrators acknowledged that the path toward independence looked more like a long and winding road than a straight-to-the-top ascent, particularly after last October’s turmoil.

“I don’t think my generation will reach the peak, but hopefully that of my son will,” said Quim Forné, 51, who was wearing one of the pink shirts. “There’s just been too much bad blood recently, and there are also still too many people in this country who have the mentality of their grandfathers who fought in our civil war.”

The pro-independence rally was roughly as large as that of the previous year, with a turnout of about 1 million people, according to the local police. Turnout figures have been regularly disputed in Catalonia, but this year the central government did not provide its own crowd estimate.

Many of the marchers traveled by bus to Barcelona from other towns in the Catalonia region.

This year’s rally took place in the shadow of a clampdown by Madrid after the territorial conflict boiled over last October, when Catalonia held a referendum on independence that was declared unconstitutional by the central government in Madrid and Spanish courts.

After separatist lawmakers declared independence, the central government ousted the Catalan government of Carles Puigdemont and imposed direct rule on the autonomous region. Spain’s attorney general also started prosecuting 25 Catalan leaders, including Puigdemont, for rebellion and other charges related to the referendum.

Tuesday’s rally reflected a changed political atmosphere in both Madrid and Barcelona, the regional capital of Catalonia.

In June, Pedro Sánchez took office as Spanish prime minister, promising to return to political dialogue with his new counterpart in Barcelona, Quim Torra, whose election in May allowed Catalonia to recover its regional autonomy. But Torra recently insisted that Catalonia remains on track to become independent, without specifying how that goal could be reached.

Both Sánchez and Torra have tenuous grips on power. Sánchez leads a minority Socialist government that is under intense pressure from his center-right opponents to reinstate direct rule over Catalonia should Torra refuse to abandon secessionism.

Speaking before the Spanish Senate on Tuesday, Pablo Casado, the leader of the main opposition Popular Party, said there was “nothing to celebrate” on the Catalan national day at a time when Catalonia is led by Torra. Casado described Torra as “a xenophobe and a racist” determined to fracture society.

At the same time, the Barcelona rally reflected recent strains within the independence movement over whether to endorse Torra’s hard-line commitment to independence, which would risk another clash with Madrid. Politicians within the fragile separatist coalition that governs Catalonia are aware that any further moves toward secession could land them before the Supreme Court, where they would join some of their former colleagues who are already in prison, awaiting trial.

The pending trial has in itself become a major obstacle to any attempt to revive the political dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. Many of the demonstrators on Tuesday shouted “freedom” as well as “independence” and held signs demanding the release of the imprisoned politicians.

“For me, this Diada is more about getting our politicians out of prison than about independence,” said César Duran, who works for a textbook distributor.

Some separatist politicians used the Diada to visit those in prison.

“It’s a good day to ask which democracy would allow a president of a democratically elected parliament to be in prison,” said Roger Torrent, the current speaker of the Catalan parliament, after visiting his jailed predecessor, Carme Forcadell. Torrent told local reporters that “Forcadell is in jail because of the oppression of the state.”

That view is firmly rejected by Spain’s attorney general, who contends that Forcadell led the Catalan parliament last year in defying the Spanish government and violating the Constitution. Forcadell is among the Catalan politicians due to go on trial in Madrid before the year ends.

Others fled Spain last October, claiming they could not be guaranteed a fair trial in Madrid. Among them was Puigdemont, who is in Belgium and has successfully fought the Spanish judiciary’s attempts to extradite him on a charge of rebellion.

His continued influence in Catalonia was on display at Tuesday’s rally.

“Puigdemont continues to be our legitimate president — full stop,” said Olga Adell, 56. “He was clever enough to understand that he could promote better our cause internationally if he got out of this country than if he allowed Spain to leave him to rot in prison like some of the others.”