BARCELONA, Spain — More than 1 million people showed their support for Catalan independence Wednesday by joining hands to form a 250-mile 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 draped with red, yellow and blue pro-independence flags.
“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 organized 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.
