300,000 rally in Barcelona to reject the independence declaration

Barcelona’s city center saw a 300,000-strong demonstration, according to local police, to reject the Declaration of Independence voted on in the Catalan parliament on Friday. The main unionist parties supported the march, including the Catalan branch of the Spanish ruling party, the People’s Party, as well as Ciudadanos and the Catalan Socialists. The organizing civil society, Societat Civil Catalana, claimed that 1.3 million people attended the rally. Far-right parties such as Democracia Nacional, Plataforma per Catalunya and fascist Falange Española also supported the event.

“The streets are everyone’s,” claimed Societat Civil Catalana vice president, Àlex Ramos. According to him, the snap election called by Mariano Rajoy in Catalonia for December 21 will work to “restore the institutions and to redirect the social and economic future.” The former president of the European Parliament Josep Borrell also took part of the march. “I hope that justice does its job soon and demands those who are harming Catalonia in this way to take responsibility,” he said.