A million Spaniards raise their voice against independence

USPA NEWS - A million people, according to the organizers, went out on Sunday to the streets of Barcelona, called by Catalan Civil Society, a citizen organization opposed to independence, to ask politicians for dialogue and for Catalonia still as part of Spain. Spanish, Catalan and European flags waved together as a symbol of unity.

The Nobel-prize winner of Literature the Spanish-Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who led the march, said at the end of the demonstration that the massive presence of citizens "shows that Catalonia and Spain are for democracy and unity." The motto of the demonstration was "Enough! Let us recover the wisdom," a call to the Catalan leaders who on Tuesday could unilaterally declare the independence of Catalonia. "We are here democratic Catalans who do not believe that they are traitors who think other than them, they are Catalans who do not consider the enemy an enemy," said Vargas Llosa. The writer stressed that the demonstrators were "Catalans who believe in democracy, freedom, the rule of law and the Constitution." He added that "we are armed with ideas, reasons and a deep conviction that Spanish democracy is here to stay. We are going to demonstrate to those independentism that we are not going to give up the freedom."

Also the former socialist president of the European Parliament Jose Borrell took the floor and, with a European flag in hand, said that "this is our stellar" (name with which the flag of Catalonia is known). "It has the stars of the peace, of coexistence. That is what Europe represents today," he added. Borrell stressed the need for "people to express themselves with the utmost respect."

The demonstration was attended by leaders of all political parties with parliamentary representation in Spain. Meanwhile, the newspaper El Pais published an interview Sunday with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, in which the President of the Spanish Government says he will do "everything possible" for that an eventual declaration of Catalan independence "is without effect." Government sources admitted this week that the Government can not prevent the government of Catalonia from declaring independence, but warned that it is one thing to declare it and another is to exercise it. A position shared by the former president of the regional government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, but against which is the current Catalan president. In an interview with Catalan public television broadcast this Sunday, Carles Puigdemont assures that he will apply the law of Catalonia.

Puigdemont will appear on Tuesday afternoon in the regional Parliament of Catalonia to assess the results of the consultation held on October 1 and which, according to the Catalan government, involved two million people. Ninety percent of them said yes to independence. Although 5.5 million Catalans had the right to vote and only 43% went to the polls, independentism say that "a majority of Catalans" is favorable to their postulates. The Catalan Parliament could unilaterally declare independence on Tuesday, although sources close to the regional government of Catalonia admit privately that there are dissensions and a part of the Catalan ministers wants to find an honorable exit to the impasse in which independence has entered. The massive flight of companies (15 large companies have already left Catalonia or are preparing their flight), which has surprised the impetus of independence, is the basis of the debates held in the heart of the Catalan government.