Riot police deploy in Barcelona as 45,000 march for Catalan National Day

Around 45,000 people marched through Barcelona on Thursday to mark Catalonia’s National Day, a sharp rise on last year’s attendance, as riot police were deployed to separate anti-fascist counter-protesters from a far-right Spanish nationalist group.

Rallies return to the streets

The main pro-independence demonstration, organised by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, and other grassroots groups, saw two columns of marchers converge on Plaça Catalunya. Under the slogan "I am here. We are here. For the present and the future. Independence", organisers hoped to revitalise a movement they admitted had suffered several years of "demoralisation".

Barcelona local police confirmed the turnout of 45,000 in the capital, up from the 28,000 they estimated during last year’s Diada.

But the day’s peaceful message of cultural pride was tested in the Eixample district. At around 6pm, the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, deployed about 20 riot vans to separate rival factions at Plaça Verdaguer. A rally by the Spanish nationalist group Núcleo Nacional, who said they were defending the "Spanishness of Catalonia" against those trying to divide Spain, had triggered an immediate anti-fascist counter-protest.

In the main march, some demonstrators burned Spanish flags and chanted for independence. Others focused on what they saw as systemic financial neglect by Madrid. "They just want our money," said one protester, Eduard, who said he was marching to defend Catalan culture and language. "We are a whole country [and] we are being repressed from Spain."

Wider regional demonstrations

The national day was marked across the wider region. In Girona, more than 11,000 people gathered for an event calling for "coexistence" while also marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Josep Irla, the former president of the Catalan government in exile.

In the southern town of Amposta, a drum band led marchers to the local suspension bridge, though crowd estimates varied wildly: organisers claimed 6,000 people attended, while local police counted 1,600. Participants there said they were marching to protect public education and the Catalan language, and to oppose fascism.

Barcelona’s sporting giant pays tribute

Earlier on Thursday, FC Barcelona kept up its long-standing connection to the national day. Club president Joan Laporta led a delegation of players and executives to lay a traditional floral tribute at the Barcelona monument of Rafael Casanova, a Catalan commander during the 1714 Siege of Barcelona.

Laporta linked the club’s Catalan identity directly to its famous motto, "més que un club" (more than a club).

"In the defence of our language, our culture and our individual and collective freedoms, you will always find the Board of Directors that I have the honour of presiding over," Laporta said.