Hundreds of thousands of people in Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region have staged a huge rally in support of secession from the mainland and creation of a new European country.
The Friday demonstration for the Catalan National Day (Diada) holiday on September 11 marks the beginning of campaigning for regional elections, which are seen as a de facto referendum on breaking away from Spain.
On Friday morning, hundreds of pro-independence bikers had gathered at a central square of the Vic town, located about 70 kilometers (40 miles) of Catalonia’s regional capital Barcelona, to ride to the event.
“Achieving independence will not be easy but winning the election will be an important first step,” said one of the bikers, Eusebio Rius.
Pro-independence parties need to secure at least 68 seats in the 135-member regional parliament to push for independence, and polls suggest that secessionist candidates could win a majority in the September 27 regional legislative polls.
On the other hand, failure to capture a majority would mean that Catalans have to put their secession aspirations on hold for years.
Regional President Artur Mas has called for "a clear result for the ‘Yes’" campaign as it would send a "very powerful message."
"Together we have done everything in our hands, and we will keep on doing it until September 27 and after that," regional President Artur Mas said on Friday.
"We have done everything in our hands, everything we could to change this status quo and to lead Catalonia to a real change, a positive one written with capital letters, to become a normal country like all our neighbors in Europe. That is what we have done," he added.
Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala has hinted at the suspension of Catalonia’s autonomy if a separation process were to get underway, adding that there is provision in Spain’s constitution for such a move.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has also stated that “there will be no independence for Catalonia.”
Catalonians cite high unemployment and public debt as main reasons for the decision to secede from Spain.
The region is currently paying Madrid around 16 billion euros a year more in taxes than it gets back from the central government. Catalonia owes around 40 billion euros in debt, which has forced regional authorities to introduce spending cuts in healthcare and education.
Many Catalans believe their economy would be more prosperous on its own, complaining that a high portion of their taxes go to the central government in Madrid.
Catalonia, which consists of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economic output.
On September 29, 2014, Spain’s constitutional court suspended Catalonia’s referendum on independence after a request from the prime minister.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona the following day, vowing to disobey Spain’s blocking of Catalonia’s independence referendum.
The Catalan government also vowed on October 3 that year to push ahead with its scheduled plan to hold the referendum, despite the court order to suspend the vote.
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