BARCELONA, Spain - About 2,000 protesters wielding Catalan pro-independence symbols and some Spanish republican flags are banging kitchen pots and blocking access to a Barcelona venue where the Spanish royal family is attending an award ceremony.

Some of the guests at the Princess of Girona Awards for young talent have been unable to enter on time the conference centre in the Catalan regional capital, which had been guarded heavily by police.

The protesters are chanting “Go Away!” to King Felipe VI and his family, burning pictures of the Spanish monarch.

The heir, 14-year-old Princess Leonor, was expected to deliver a short speech at Monday’s ceremony.

Tensions over roughly half of Catalonia’s strong desire to secede from Spain have become the main political theme for voters in the country’s general election on Sunday.