Unionist groups have called on their supporters to gather in the squares in front of their town halls in order to protest against this Sunday's referendum and against the Catalan Government. In Barcelona about 250 people congregated in Plaça Sant Jaume, facing the Palau de la Generalitat, the seat of the Catalan Government, and chanted slogans such as "Long live Spain" and "Catalonia is Spain". Even though there were some Catalan flags, they were outnumbered by the Spanish ones.
Pues al final sí hay violencia. Lo que no hay es Guardia Civil. pic.twitter.com/Y4O1jz6tJj
— kantinu (@kantinu) 30 of September 2017
Incidents occurred involving aggression when passers-by voiced pro-independence chants. The police intervened to escort the people affected out of the crowd. In Catalonia there was also a unionist gathering in Reus, where demonstrators shouted "Put Puigdemont in prison" on several occasions. Here, the demonstration ended up face-to-face with a small anti-fascist protest and a training session being held by the local castellers or human tower group.
Once separated by a cordon mounted by the Catalan police, the group of around a hundred unionists who had responded to the call by the "Mobilize against Separatism" platform exchanged chants with opposing groups gathered there. In spite of some moments of tension and trading of insults between protesters, there were no incidents. Some of the slogans chanted by the pro-Spanish group against the referendum were met with loud jeering and whistling. Despite this, the unionist demonstrators made a point of showing that they feel equally Catalan and Spanish and applauded when the casteller group erected its human towers, as well as showing their approval of the role of the Catalan police.
Meanwhile in Madrid, the group Foundation for Defence of the Spanish Nation organized a protest in Plaza Cibeles, attended by former Partido Popular politician Esperanza Aguirre, and featuring the slogan "For the unity of Spain and in defence of the rule of law". Also this morning, in the Blanquerna Cultural Centre, the delegation of the Catalan Government in Madrid, a protest was planned based on the slogan "Catalan citizens are Spain", organized by the platform United, Free, Equal and Solidary.