Catalan separatists to test strength with Barcelona rally
Divided after their failed 2017 secession bid, Catalonia's separatists will hold a rally in Barcelona on Wednesday that will test their strength before a Spanish court in October serves verdicts against the leaders of the independence push.
Since 2012, separatists have held massive rallies on September 11, Catalonia's "national day", which marks the fall of Barcelona to Spain in 1714. Organizers say a million people took part in past "Diada" rallies. This year's demonstration will get underway at 17:14 (1514 GMT) a nod to the year on Barcelona's central Plaza Espana.
The rally comes just a few weeks before Spain's Supreme Court is due to deliver verdicts in the high-profile trial of 12 separatist leaders charged over their role in Catalonia's separatist bid, which plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
