The Latest: Huge crowds rally against Catalan secession | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Current Conditions Light Rainshower  10.7°C

The Latest: Huge crowds rally against Catalan secession

Thousands march in downtown Barcelona, Spain, to protest the Catalan government's push for secession from the rest of Spain, Sunday Oct. 8, 2017. Sunday's rally comes a week after separatist leaders of the Catalan government held a referendum on secession that Spain's top court had suspended and the Spanish government said was illegal. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Original Publication Date October 08, 2017 - 2:16 AM

BARCELONA, Spain - The Latest on the fallout after Catalonia's independence referendum (all times local):

2:45 p.m.

Organizers say that 930,000 people have marched in Barcelona on Sunday to protest the Catalan government's push for secession from Spain.

Many from other parts of Spain joined the Barcelona march, which was organized by pro-union grassroots group Societat Civil Catalana under the slogan "Let's recover our common sense!"

Barcelona police said 350,000 took part in Sunday's march.

The show of force by pro-union groups comes a week after the Catalan government went ahead and held a referendum on secession that Spain's top court had suspended and the Spanish government said was illegal. The "Yes" side won with 90 per cent with less than half the electorate polled.

___

11 a.m.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed that his government will not allow Catalonia to break away from the rest of the country.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais published Sunday, Rajoy said "Spain is not going to be divided and the nation's unity will be maintained."

Rajoy says that he will consider employing any measure "allowed by the law" to stop the region's separatists.

He says that includes considering the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which would allow the central government to take control of the governance of a region "if the regional government does not comply with the obligations of the Constitution."

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has said he will push ahead for independence after the "Yes" side won a disputed referendum on secession that Spain's top court had suspended. Less than half the electorate of the region participated in the vote last Sunday.

___

10:50 a.m.

Hundreds of people are gathering in downtown Barcelona ahead of a rally to protest the Catalan government's push for secession from the rest of Spain.

Many in the crowd forming in a central square are carrying Spanish and Catalan flags.

Sunday's rally comes a week after separatist leaders of the Catalan government held a referendum on secession that Spain's top court had suspended and the Spanish government said was illegal.

The referendum was won by the "Yes" side, though less than half of the region's electorate voted. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has pledged to push ahead for independence.

Nobel Literature Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and former president of the European Parliament Josep Borrell are expected to address Sunday's rally.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

  • Popular penticton News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile