More than 700 Catalan mayors protest Spain's backlash

In a show of unity against the backlash from Spain, more than 700 Catalan mayors who got summoned to court this week for supporting the October 1 referendum met on Saturday in Barcelona. The gathering comes at a moment of unprecedented political tension over the independence vote, which the Catalan government has promised to carry out despite suspension by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

Mayors closed ranks with the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, who also attended the event. “Do not underestimate the force of the Catalan people,” he said, responding to previous comments by Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy, who warned pro-independence supporters not to “underestimate the force of Spanish democracy.”