Catalan independence movement
Other individuals include:All of the Spanish national political parties in Catalonia reject the idea of independence. Together they represent a majority of votes yet a minority of seats in the Catalan parliament. Of these, only Podemos is prepared to hold a referendum on the issue in Catalonia; others such as Ciutadans, and the People's Party of Catalonia, which had 25.4% and 4.2% of the vote respectively in the 2017 Catalan regional election, have always opposed the notion of Catalan self-determination. The Socialists' Party (13.9% of vote) opposes independence as well. While some of its members supported the idea of a self-determination referendum up until 2012, the official position as of 2015 is that the Spanish Constitution should be reformed in order to better accommodate Catalonia. A majority of voters of left-wing platform Catalonia Yes We Can (8.94%) reject independence although the party favours a referendum in which it would campaign for Catalonia remaining part of Spain. CDC's Catalanist former-partner Unió came out against independence and fared badly in every subsequent election, eventually disbanding due to bankruptcy in 2017.
Reactions to the Catalan independence referendum, 2017
Jordi Sanchez, leader of the ANC, spoke in Barcelona's main square saying he hopes that "very soon we will see the birth of a new Catalan state." He also warned local leaders: "Now, don't let us down ... The moment of truth has arrived." Government Spokesman Jordi Turull said that Spain is "the shame of Europe" for its crackdown. He added that "what the police are doing is simply savage, it's an international scandal". The CCOO union called for a general strike on 3 October "to condemn the violence employed by security forces of the state to stop the referendum". It also called for protests on 2 October at 12:00 in front of town halls across Catalonia. Jordi Cuixart, the leader of Omnium, also urged a general strike in Catalonia on 3 October.
On 8 October 2017, Societat Civil Catalana gathered over a million people according to the organizers and the Spanish government and 350,000 people according to Barcelona police, in a rally against Catalan independence. To date this event was the largest pro-Constitution and anti-independence demonstration in the history of Catalonia.