BARCELONA, Spain — Hundreds of thousands of Catalans demonstrated in Barcelona on Wednesday in favor of independence from the rest of Spain, but their numbers were smaller than in previous years, underlining deep divisions within the independence movement.

For an eighth consecutive year, pro-independence protesters used Catalonia’s national day to press their cause. They also called for the release of jailed pro-independence politicians.

About 600,000 people took part in the rally, according to local police, down from about one million in 2018.

“We all still want to have an independent Catalan republic but we don’t all agree on what kind and how to get there, which is what happens when our best politicians are now being held in prison and silenced by the Spanish state,” said Anna Riba, 26, one of the demonstrators.