(Reuters) Demonstrators calling for Catalan independence gathered in hundreds of towns across the region on Sunday following Madrid’s actions last week to try to block a referendum on self rule that it considers illegal.
Spanish police have arrested Catalan officials who were involved in organizing the Oct. 1 vote and they also seized electoral material, including ballot papers and ballot boxes. This led to several days of protests in Barcelona.
But Carles Puigdemont, the head of the Catalan regional government, has said the referendum will go ahead.
