‘I Am Spanish’: Thousands in Barcelona Protest a Push for Independence
8, 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s silent supporters of Spanish unity found their voice on Sunday, thronging into the center of Barcelona as part of a huge rally
that reverberated with chants in support of a united Spanish state and against agitators for independence.
Along the way, thousands chanted, "Long Live Spain, Long Live Catalonia," "I am Spanish, I am Spanish,"
and "Puigdemont to Prison." They waved Spanish, Catalan and European Union flags and wore stickers of all three on their chests.
Officers posed for selfies, received hugs and heartfelt handshakes
and smiled broadly as the demonstrators chanted, "You are not alone" and "This is our police." "The referendum was illegal, and these police followed their instructions," said Danile Basteller, 51, from Barcelona.
The rally — estimated by the police at 350,000 people, though organizers said it was twice
that — also served as a coming-out party of sorts for the national flag, which for decades has carried a stigma associated with the far-right groups nostalgic for the Franco dictatorship.
Mr. Puigdemont is expected to address the regional Parliament on Tuesday, when Catalan leaders could declare independence, citing the results of a referendum
that the national government and the courts had said was illegal and ordered suspended.
As demonstrators, some of whom arrived on packed buses
and trains from around Spain, jeered at balconies hanging pro-independence flags, organizers and security forces cleared paths for politicians and celebrity supporters of Spanish unity who had lined up at the front of the rally.
