Catalan Way
Catalonia saw several local referenda for independence take place in hundreds of villages between 13 September 2009 and April 2011, with an overwhelming number of "yes" votes being cast.
The 2012 Catalan independence demonstration, organized by the Catalan National Assembly, argued that Catalonia should become an independent state within the European Union, under the slogan "Catalonia, new state in Europe". The number of participants was estimated at about 1.5 million according to Barcelona's Municipal Police and Catalonia's Department of the Interior, about 2 million according to the organizers, and about 600,000 according to the delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia.
Catalonia
After the fall of the dictator and a brief proclamation of the Catalan Republic, it received its first Statute of Autonomy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), establishing an autonomous body, the Generalitat of Catalonia, which included a parliament, a government and a court of appeal, and the left-wing independentist leader Francesc Macià was elected its first president. The governments of the Republican Generalitat, leaded by the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) members Francesc Macià (1931-1933) and Lluís Companys (1933-1940) tried to implement an advanced social program, despite the internal difficulties. This period was marked by political unrest, the effects of the economic crisis and their social repercussions. The Statute was suspended in 1934, due to the Events of 6 October in Barcelona, as a response to the accession of right-wing Spanish nationalist party CEDA to the government of the Republic, considered close to fascism.
After the electoral victory of the Popular Front in February 1936, the Government of Catalonia was pardoned and the self-government restored.