Thousands of demonstrators yesterday rallied across Madrid calling for Spanish unity and demanding action to resolve a volatile political crisis over plans by Catalan separatists to declare independence.
Madrid’s central Colon Square was transformed into a sea of Spanish flags as several thousand people joined a “patriotic” march organized by activists to defend the unity of Spain.
Hundreds of others, all dressed in white, gathered in a nearby plaza outside city hall in a separate rally calling for dialogue to end the crisis, among them families with young children.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The rallies followed days of soaring tensions after police cracked down on voters during a banned Catalan independence referendum on Sunday last week, prompting regional leaders to warn that they would unilaterally declare independence in days.
Tentative signs have emerged that the two sides might be seeking to defuse the country’s worst crisis in a generation after Madrid on Friday offered a first apology to Catalans injured by police during the vote.
However, uncertainty still haunts the country as Catalan leaders have not backed off from plans to declare the region independent.
In Cibeles Square, hundreds of people clapped and waved their hands in the air in a crowd that included many families with young children and babies, but no flags.
Yurena Diaz, a 36-year-old doctor, said she was demonstrating “so that there would be dialogue before we lose ourselves, so they they try and sit down and talk.”
“There is a lot more tension and violence. Each time it gets worse. Such violence makes you afraid. It has generated a lot of fear and that’s dangerous,” she added.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block any independence move and has also rejected calls for mediation in a dispute that has drawn cries of concern all over Spain, and even from Barcelona and Real Madrid soccer players.
“There has to be a commitment to dialogue,” Jordi Cuixart, president of one of the grassroots groups driving the separatist movement, said on Catalan radio. “We will never refuse that, but we ... will continue to demand a commitment that the referendum law be fulfilled.”
The crisis has raised fears of unrest in the northeastern region, a tourist-friendly area of 7.5 million people that accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economy.
Opponents of secession called for demonstrations around Spain yesterday and in Barcelona today.
Another group called “Let’s Talk” urged citizens to gather dressed in white in front of town halls, demanding dialogue to end the crisis under the slogan: “Spain is better than its leaders.”
After days of ill-tempered rhetoric, Madrid on Friday said it regretted the injuries caused in the crackdown on Sunday last week and suggested that Catalonia should hold a regional election to settle the crisis.
Generalitat of Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont was scheduled to appear at the regional parliament tomorrow, but postponed it by a day, a spokesman said.
It remains unclear what he plans to say, although some leaders hope he will use the opportunity to make a declaration of independence.
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