Several thousand people took part in two simultaneous marches in protest at the Supreme Court verdicts in central Barcelona on Friday night, at the start of a weekend which is likely to bring many thousands more down to the streets once again in different demonstrations against the political situation in Catalonia called for Saturday and Sunday.    

A major rally is set for Saturday afternoon. Called to protest against the "repression in our streets" by the ANC and Òmnium as well as around 100 other groups, it begins on Barcelona's Carrer Marina at 5pm. The slogan is simply "For liberty!" - and although the pro-independence groups have led its organization, they are attempting to appeal to a very broad public. Òmnium leader Marcel Mauri says he wants to address "all those people who feel that the court sentences are unjust and that repression cannot be the way" to invite them to attend the march.

The head of the march will start at the junction of Carrer Marina and Carrer Ramón Turró, and move towards the sea - not very far for those at the front, since the stage where final speeches will be given is located at Avinguda Icària, just two blocks further down.

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Later, the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDR) have called on the public to gather outside the Spanish National Police station in Via Laietana to "return the rubber balls that were shot at us". That protest is timed to start at 7.30pm.

Saturday will also see protest actions against the political and judicial repression of the independence movement continuing elsewhere in Catalonia, with demonstrations called in several cities. Further afield, the English, Scottish and Welsh public are being called upon to "stand up for Catalonia" in a series of protests scheduled for 12 noon on Saturday.

Sunday has been declared "National Picnic Day" by the civil disobedience platform Picnic for the Republic, which invites supporters to join in protest actions "across the territory" of Catalonia. In Barcelona, the meeting place is at the former prison, the Model, in the Eixample district at 12 noon.

Meanwhile, across town in the Passeig de Gràcia at the same time, a pro-Spanish-union march is to be held, organized by the unionist group Societat Civil Catalana.