MADRID: Hundreds of thousands of Catalans are expected to rally in the streets of Barcelona on Monday in what campaigners hope will be a show of support for independence after Madrid moved to block a planned referendum on the region's split from Spain.
The 'Diada' day of Sept 11, which commemorates the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714, is often used by activists to voice their demands for an independent state.
Coachloads of demonstrators travel to Barcelona from villages in the region.
Hostility between Madrid and Barcelona has ramped up since Spain's Constitutional Court last Thursday suspended the referendum, planned for Oct. 1, following a legal challenge by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.