Human chain protest stretches 400km
More than one million people have shown their support for Catalan independence by joining hands to form a 400-kilometre human chain across the northeastern region of Spain.
The demonstration on the region's annual public
Human chain protest stretches 400km
More than one million people have shown their support for Catalan independence by joining hands to form a 400-kilometre human chain across the northeastern region of Spain.
The demonstration on the region's annual public holiday aimed to illustrate the strength of local backing for political efforts to break away from Spain.
The Catalan regional government estimated 1.6 million people in the region of 7.5 million residents took part in the human chain, many of them with red, yellow and blue pro-independence flags draped around their shoulders.
''Today is a historic day. The Catalan people have reaffirmed their determination to be a free state,'' said Carme Forcadell, president of the Catalan National Assembly, which organised the human chain.
The protest in Catalonia was peaceful, but a small group of Spanish fascists in Madrid stormed their way into the office of the Catalan government's delegation building in the capital.
Television images showed about 10 men with Spanish fascist flags shouting, pushing people, knocking over furniture and hitting a journalist's TV camera.
They yelled ''Catalonia is Spain!'' and quickly left, but reportedly opened a tear gas container, forcing the 100 or so people gathered there to evacuate.
During Francis