Organisers of Friday Sep 11,2015 protest said close to 500,000 people registered to form a white "human mosaic" symbolising a blank page and the new country they hope to build after the September 27 elections, portrayed by local authorities as a proxy vote on secession.
People wave Estelada flags, representing Catalan independence, in Meridiana Avenue.
The crowds packed both sides of a major road into Barcelona in a sea of striped Catalan flags and white T-shirts, yelling and whistling while some formed human pyramids - a Catalan folk tradition.
The show of force on Catalan national day - the fourth such mass rally in as many years - came at a time of political tension, three months ahead of a general election in Spain.
Polls this week showed pro-secession candidates could win a majority of seats in the Catalan parliament in ballots on September 27, even though they may fail to win the most votes.
If they win parliament, Catalan president Artur Mas has vowed to push through an 18-month roadmap for secession for the region, which accounts for a fifth of Spain's economy.
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