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GIRONA, Spain – Latest news about the Independence events in Catalonia (all times local):
19h
Catalan secessionists end a day of demonstrations with a great march in the city center of Barcelona, the capital of the Spanish region of the north-east.
Monday's protests marked the first anniversary of a separatist poll that was stopped by the police and failed in its bid to create a new country separate from Spain.
Tens of thousands of people attended the evening march, which starts from the central square of Barcelona called Plaza Catalunya, towards the Catalan regional parliament.
Protesters are expected to use ballot boxes used in last October's referendum to the region's president, Quim Torra, a pro-independence politician.
Opinion polls show that Catalans are roughly divided on the issue of independence.
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4:15 p.m.
The Spanish financial markets have responded to the latest calls for the independence of Catalonia.
At the end of the session, Madrid's leading IBEX stock index was up 0.5%, which is comparable to other European indices.
In a note, Oxford Economics noted that despite fears of an economic disaster in the rich region a year ago, as thousands of companies were moving their registered address from Catalonia, the economic impact of secession was " only moderate and lived. "
"A serious political crisis with wider consequences for the European Union has been reduced to a purely national problem," he said.
He added that "the issue of independence has become a low-intensity conflict that will probably persist in the years to come" and will not pose "systemic risk" for the European financial system.
A year after the unrest in Catalonia, pro-independence protesters targeted the financial institutions that they perceive as aligning Spain with Catalonia. They used metal chains to lock the doors of the Barcelona Stock Exchange and demonstrated in front of the premises of the Bank of Spain, the country's central bank.
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1:25 p.m.
Thousands of students march in the center of Barcelona to mark the anniversary of a referendum on independence in Catalonia, banned by the Spanish authorities.
Schoolboys and high school students walk peacefully behind a banner where it is written: "We will not forget, we will not forgive", and chanting slogans in favor of an independent Catalan republic.
Residents of all Catalonia also held a minute of silence at noon (10:00 GMT, 6:00 am EDT) to mark this anniversary and drew attention to the violence that the police had used to crush the vote, banned by Spanish courts.
Separatist activists blocked roads and railway lines earlier Monday. A group of them broke into the offices of the central government delegation in Girona and shot down the Spanish national flag.
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10:55
The separatist leader Carles Puigdemont said the people of Catalonia should remain united in their goal of breaking with Spain, a year after a referendum on secession in the prosperous region.
"Let's not separate ourselves from the only way we can live in a full-fledged democracy: the (Catalan) Republic and its international recognition," Puigdemont said in a video message shared on social media.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium a few days after the declaration of independence of the Catalan regional parliament at the end of last October. Since then, he has turned his case against the Spanish Supreme Court into a platform for the defense of the rights to self-determination in Europe.
He fought extradition in Germany, where he spent weeks in prison, and in Belgium.
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9:10
The regional government of Catalonia is back in a school in northern Catalonia where police intervened to ban people from voting in a referendum on independence banned a year ago.
Student strikes, emotional speeches and mass demonstrations are scheduled to commemorate Monday the vote that has caused the most serious political crisis in Spain for decades.
In Sant Julia de Ramis, the northern city where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was scheduled to vote on the morning of 1 October 2017, the regional separatist authorities are sending their supporters a banner reading "We We will not forget or forgive "behind them.
A year ago, the riot police entered the polling station of the school, making hundreds of wounded in front of cameras that broadcast live incidents.
Puigdemont, who ended up voting in another polling station, is now wanted in Spain on preliminary charges of rebellion. He has so far fought extradition to Spain from Germany and Belgium.
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8:30
Activists of Catalonia's secession from Spain are blocking major highways, railways and avenues in the northeastern region, a year after the failure of a referendum banned by the police.
The defense committees of the Republic, groups of local activists from the unauthorized vote of October 1, 2017, called Monday for online messaging events.
In Girona, north of Barcelona, hundreds of activists have occupied the railroads at high speed, while the regional police tried to prevent more protesters from entering the station area.
Local media also reported roadblocks on the AP-7 highway, the main artery of eastern Catalonia leading to the French border, and in the central streets of the cities of Lleida and Barcelona, the capital regional.
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