Thousands of people have gathered in front of the Catalan Economy Ministry to block the path of the Civil Guard agents that, from early this morning, have been entering Oriol Junqueras' department. "You'll spend the night here" is the warning of one of the most popular calls.
Within the department remain a dozen staff and the Civil Guard who are continuing their search.
The three vehicles the Civil Guard arrived in have disappeared under the mass of people that have clambered on top, testing the suspension and chanting "vote, vote, vote" and "in-inde-independence". Another one of the shouts is another warning: "Tonight you're going without cars". Currently, one of the vehicles has lost its licence plate and someone has turned on the blue lights on its roof.
"We'll vote", "we're not scared", "this did happen with Franco" and "the streets will always be ours", are some of the slogans being repeated by those present. Every time a Spanish TV station makes a live broadcast from the balcony opposite the ministry, the crowd shouts: "Spanish press, manipulative!"
In general, however, the tone is festive and ironic. Here, "where are the voting slips?" has become another of the day's hits. At the doors to the ministry, JxSí (Together for Yes) deputies have been on guard all day, just like the people that have been arriving since early this morning when the police search started. Junqueras, now at the government palace, also turned up for a while, as did the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, who arrived after giving a statement in the Parliament chamber.
At 6pm, salads and bottles of water started to appear and be shared among those present.
Pro-independence estelada and referendum flags have been hung from the department's balconies, but one of the moments that raised the largest cheer was when an immense banner was hung from the building's terrace with the slogan "The Catalan Republic".
Els Segadors, the Catalan anthem, and L'Estaca, a song about liberty by popular Catalan artist Lluís Llach have been sung repeatedly, but also La flama by Obrint pas, a song about overcoming obstacles to keep moving forwards as a people, which has rung from loudspeakers.
"We don't want another dictatorship", say those present, who don't currently seem to be in much of a hurry to leave.