The protest march called by the Catalan independence movement for the Diada, Catalan national day, has turned the city's major Avinguda Diagonal artery into a teeming human tide, filling the broad boulevard wall-to-wall with independence supporters for 37 city blocks - covering six kilometres.
A crowd estimated by police at approximately one million people, many wearing t-shirts in the coral-red colour chosen for this year's march by the organising Catalan National Assembly (ANC), began congregating early in the day along the length of the avenue, in a march with the slogan "Let's build the Catalan Republic. The Diada for the Republic". The rally, the seventh consecutive mass rally held on the September 11th festive day by the independence movement, has taken on a special tone this year, because it is the first Diada following the independence referendum last 1st October, leading to the Catalan declaration of independence and the Spanish government's simultaneous intervention to take over control of the Catalan government under article 155 of the constitution. And in particular, this year's rally is marked by the fact that most of the political and civil leaders who took Catalonia into the referendum have now either been imprisoned preventively, or are in exile abroad.
The marchers called for "Freedom for the political prisoners" and "Independence" in chants. After a period of silence just before the symbolic hour of 1714h, a chant from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators moved up the Barcelona avenue in a wave, calling for the "independence" of Catalonia from the Spanish state.
As in prevous years, the atmosphere at the rally has been totally peaceful and festive, with the widespread presence of families with small children.
Streets near the Avinguda Diagonal march route were full of people from the early hours of the afternoon as Catalans arrived early. More than 1,500 coaches brought participants from all over Catalonia. The ANC says it has sold more than 275,000 T-shirts.
