Spain's Season of Discontent

"[Three Catalonias exist]; you have the small or middle sized cities and towns where the support for independence is massive. Then you have all the cities surrounding Barcelona, where the majority of people speak Spanish at home, and where the support for independence is [comparatively] low."
"And then you have Barcelona, which is a mixture of both worlds."
Oriol Bartomeus, professor, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

"There are people who are pro-independence in a classical way -- they talk about Catalan culture, language and identity. But the success of the pro-independence movement is in the way that it has brought on board people from other identities and perspectives."
"It's not a nationalist movement, it's a movement about sovereignty."
Antonio Banos, former lawmaker

"It's a very pluralistic city and there is a lot of diversity of opinions in Barcelona."
"...If you compare it [Barcelona] with people in the heart of Catalonia, it's not as pro-independence."
"For many years, Barcelona has been a Mediterranean city, a global city, and thousands of people have always mobilized here for peace, or dialogue and for human rights."
"And that remains the case today."
Ada Colau, Barcelona mayor

Independence supporters gathered outside the Palau Catalan Regional Government Building on Monday following last week's decision by the Catalan parliament to vote to split from Spain. The Spanish government responded by imposing direct rule and dissolving the Catalan parliament. (Getty Images)

Popular sentiment in Barcelona appeared to go all out for independence, in an restive area of Spain that has been edging toward secession for a very long time. At the same time the October 1 referendum brought out an estimated 43 percent of the electorate of Catalonia to cast their ballots in a vote that the Spanish courts banned, an event that the central Spanish government did its violent utmost to halt. That reaction no doubt spurred the greater majority of those who came out to the polls to vote in favour of an independent Catalonia; they did so by their significant 90 percent support.

Spain has reacted by declaring the referendum illegal, an assault on the democratic values of the country, a claim that runs counter to using intimidation, anger and force rather than reason and debate. And because the Catalan autonomous government has been dismissed not only is the populace perplexed, but investors and business leaders view the current and impending destabilization as a signal to vacate a sinking ship. If the central authority is determined to run Catalonia they have their work cut out.

Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido, left, holds a meeting with the new chief of Catalan regional police, Ferran Lopez, right, in Madrid on Monday. Lopez has replaced the dismissed regional police chief Josep Lluis Tapero. (Angel Diaz/AFP/Getty Images)

The counter-rally defending Spanish unity was a massive display of pro-union sentiment. "Catalan leaders have broken the law. The central government has let this situation go for too long, for even 30 or 40 years, thinking that we were never going to arrive at this extreme, but here we are. Our society is fractured, there are family members and friends who no longer can talk about politics to avoid conflict", complained one retiree at the rally.

The atmosphere is both heated and concerned in Barcelona. The pro-Spain rally may have taken place in that most cosmopolitan and pluralist of Spanish cities, but in Catalonian towns elsewhere there is little evidence of a willingness to relinquish the dream of independence. Migrants from Andalusia and Extremadura decades earlier made Barcelona a more diverse population, unwilling to separate from Spain, whereas people born to Catalan parents urge for independence, though Catalans living elsewhere in Spain are pro-union.

"We have organized ourselves late, but we are here to show that there is a majority of Catalans that are no longer silent and that no longer want to be silenced", a pro-union Alex Ramos, head of the group Catalan Civil Society, stated as he marched along with hundreds of thousands of Catalans voicing opposition to Friday's declaration of independence. Regional leader Carles Puigdemont called for Catalans to engage in peaceful opposition to the central government's regional affairs takeover. He and his fired cabinet would keep "working to build a free country".

It is expected that Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will likely have a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday, but it remains unclear whether he will ask for asylum in Belgium. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)