Hundreds of thousands of Catalan separatists let out a collective shout as they marched along a main artery in Barcelona yesterday marking the first of a series of mass mobilizations demanding independence from Spain and the release of several high-profile secessionists from jail.
With the official slogan “Let’s Make the Catalan Republic” printed on pink T-shirts and signs, protesters went silent at 5.14 p.m., which on a 24-hour clock is 1714 – the year when Barcelona fell in the Spanish War of Succession.
A loud cheer and cries of “independence” and “freedom” followed, sweeping along a six-kilometer long stretch of the city’s Diagonal avenue.
Barcelona’s local police estimated around 1 million protesters took part.
– The man who died after an armed confruntation with Police has been named.
Sean Hercules from Leeds was found with a gun in the Cancelada area of Malaga.
Gunshots had been fired, but it is not clear who fired the shots. An investigation is ongoing.
The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed the death of a British man in Spain but did not disclose his identity.
– POLICE have shut down an operation of drug traffickers who kidnapped and tortured a man, cutting off two of his fingers over a stash of hashish.
In a series of raids, officers arrested 18 people and applied for three international arrest warrants.
In addition 6,120 kilos of hashish, two firearms and 10 vehicles have been seized, five of which were stolen.
According to the Civil Guard in Andalusia, the group transported hashish from Morocco using semi-rigid boats and all-terrain vehicles which are believed to have been stolen from the Malaga area.
As a result of the investigations, an agricultural warehouse in Jerez was discovered where a large amount of drugs were siezed.
– EMERGENCY services have recovered the body of a person spotted floating in the sea off the coast.
The corpse was spotted off the Salinas beach in the resort of Roquetas del Mar in Almeria.
Police investigations are continuing and no formal identification has yet been made.
– SPAIN’S National Geographic Institute registered six small earthquakes in the Granada area of Andalucia in just one afternoon.
Six low-intensity earthquakes were recorded on Monday between 2.29pm and 10.56pm and ranging between 1.5 and 2.8 on the Richter scale.
The emergency control centre reported that there was no material damage and no casualties.