485,000 people registered to join the Diada marches last year. Photo: Jorge Guerrero / AFP Tens of thousands of Catalans are expected to protest on Sunday to demand their region speed up its drive to break away from Spain and form its own country. After winning a clear majority in Catalonia’s regional parliament last year, secessionist parties approved a plan to achieve independence in mid-2017 but have since become divided by ideological differences and little progress has been made. Separatists hope that people will come out en masse in various towns and cities of the wealthy, northeastern region on September 11 when it marks its national day. “I encourage you to fill the streets,” regional president Carles Puigdemont said in a video released ahead of the demonstration. “We have to show that we are ready to finish this process that will convert Catalonia into an independent state,” he added. His government is walking a tightrope after the pro-independence coalition ruling Catalonia broke down in June as its most radical component — the tiny, anti-capitalist CUP party — refused to back the proposed budget for 2016. Without the CUP and its 10 parliamentary seats, Puigdemont has been reduced to running a… Read full this story
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