Hundreds of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona to demand Catalonia rejects independence and stays with Spain.

March organisers Societat Civil Catalana claimed 930,000 people turned out, but Barcelona police put the total at around 350,000.

The demonstration comes a week after the Catalan government held a referendum on secession that was condemned as illegal and unconstitutional by the Spanish government.

The vote, which was won by the Yes side, was broken up by police, who beat voters with batons.

Image: Barcelona may be the capital of the Catalan region but thousands gathered there on Sunday in support of unity Image: Organisers claimed a million people joined the march. Swipe through for more pictures /

The tactic was condemned throughout the world but a Spanish minister told Sky News it was "absolutely proportionate".


On Saturday, a similarly large rally was held in the city to demand secession from Spain, while another demonstration was held in support of Spanish unity in Madrid.

Speaking to El Pais on Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said: "Spain is not going to be divided and the nation's unity will be maintained.

"The ideal would be not to have to take drastic measures. I would like this threat of a declaration of independence to be withdrawn as quickly as possible."

Those measures could include taking over the regional government's powers, a move that could deepen the country's worst political crisis in a generation.

Image: Catalans carrying Spanish flags during a pro-union demonstration in Barcelona

The slogan for the Barcelona protest, which was organised by the Societat Civil Catalana, the main anti-independence group in Catalonia, was "Enough, let's recover good sense!"

But some people went further, chanting "Don't be fooled, Catalonia is Spain" and calling for Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to be jailed.

Mr Puigdemont is set to address the Catalan parliament on Tuesday, and although it remains unclear what he plans to say, many secessionists are urging him to declare unilateral independence.

Image: The protest was organised by 'Societat Civil Catalana' (Catalan Civil Society)

Weighing against that is the decision of several large businesses, including Catalonia's top two banks, to pull out of the region amid the uncertainty over its future.

Other companies are reportedly considering leaving Catalonia to avoid being forced to leave the European Union and the single market in the case of secession.

Mr Rajoy told Catalan leaders that there "is still time" to backtrack and avoid Madrid taking over the region's government.

Though 90% of voters backed independence at the outlawed referendum, fewer than half of the region's electorate voted.

Most recent polls showed that Catalonia's 7.5m residents were roughly split down the middle over secession.