More than 1 million people on Tuesday demonstrated in favor of the independence of the north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia - the biggest rally ever in the region's history. The demonstration on the occasion of a Catalan national day had been called with the backing of the region's governing Catalan nationalist party CiU. The rally under the motto "Catalonia, Europe's next state" was aimed at showing that the region had launched a quest for more self-government, Catalan government spokesman Francesc Homs said.
