Hundreds and thousands of Catalans formed a 250-mile-long human chain across the region in a demonstration pushing for a referendum on independence from Spain.
Organisers claimed that they had succeeded in forming an unbroken line from the Pyrenees in the north to Valencia in the south, covering Catalonia’s capital Barcelona, with almost half a million participants.
Backing for secession is reportedly growing in the autonomous region with recession and public spending cuts stirring discontent with the central government in Madrid.
See Reuters for full story.