More than a million people have been marching in the streets of Barcelona to call for greater autonomy for the Catalan region.
The demonstration came a day after a constitutional court declared there was no legal basis to recognise Catalonia as a nation, and the Catalan language should not take precedence over Castilian Spanish, the BBC reports.
The amount of power that should be devolved from Madrid is a constant process of negotiation, and the constitutional court acts as a referee.
A statute of autonomy, approved by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum, gave greater powers to the regional parliament in taxation and judicial matters.
This weekend's demonstration followed a challenge to the region's statute by the opposition People's Party, which favours Spanish unity.
Spanish TV reports showed crowds in Barcelona waving flags and red and yellow banners reading "We are a nation".
The issue has sparked a national debate on identity, including whether Catalans should display symbols of national unity ahead of the football World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.
