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Catalans demand independence vote

HUNDREDS of thousands of Catalans packed the streets of Barcelona on Thursday to demand the right to vote on separation from Spain.

Participants dressed in red and yellow lined up along two of Barcelona’s main roads to form a huge “V” for “vote.”

Many wore T-shirts saying “Ara es l’hora” or “Now is the time” in the Catalan language on Catalonia’s national day.

Barcelona police estimated that as many as 1.8 million took part, while a central government spokeswoman put the figure at around half a million.

Catalonia regional leader Artur Mas said his government is not wavering from plans to hold a November 9 referendum in the region of 7.6 million people, even though experts say any attempt is sure to be blocked by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

“We want a say in politics and our future,” said Carme Forcadell, head of the National Catalan Assembly, one of the organisers of the event.

Mr Mas told reporters the rest of Spain needed to take heed.

“I ask Spain’s institutions and especially its government to take good note of the mood on Catalonia’s streets,” he said.

“What is going on today is not a challenge to the state, it is the clamour of a large part of Catalan society.”

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block the vote because Spain’s constitution does not allow referendums that don’t include all Spaniards, but Mr Mas told reporters that would be a mistake.

“The Catalan issue is one of the biggest issues the Spanish government is facing,” he said.

“It is an error to try and solve this through legal means. Political problems are solved through politics, not with legal threats.”

Catalonia’s campaign has drawn momentum from the coming referendum on Scotland’s independence.

A recent official Catalan opinion poll showed support for an independent state had tripled to 45.2 per cent in March 2014 from 13.9 per cent in March 2006.

And Spain’s state pollster CIS found this year that around 45 per cent of Catalans supported full independence, 20 per cent would support a federal state and 23 per cent backed an autonomous region.

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