Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took part in a massive rally in Barcelona this Sunday to protest against the regional Catalan government’s declaration of independence from Spain. The event was organized by the anti-independence group Societat Civil Catalana, which said more than a million people marched in the protest. But in the deeply-fractured northeastern region of Spain, even counting has become politicized, and local police said around 300,000 showed up. The pro-unity protest with the slogan “we are all Catalonia, common sense for co-existence” comes in response to the Catalan government’s dramatic declaration of independence last Friday. However, for the first time in Spain’s democratic history, the central government in Madrid has activated an article of the constitution that gives it direct control of the rebellious region. Political leaders have now been fired, although the region’s President Carles Puigdemont said Saturday that he does not recog
