Tens of thousands of Catalan separatists have taken part in a final rally ahead of Sunday’s planned referendum on independence from Spain.<\/p>\n
Regional President Carles Puigdemont told the crowd that he believed Catalonia would be taking its first steps as a sovereign nation.<\/p>\n
Thousands of extra police have been drafted in from across Spain as the government seeks to stop the ballot.<\/p>\n
Google has deleted an app used to direct voters to polling stations.<\/p>\n
Phone users in the region who try to download the app from Google Play get a message saying it is not available locally although those who already have\u00a0the app\u00a0can still use it.<\/p>\n
The corporation said it was complying with a court order.<\/p>\n
Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain has its own language and culture, and a high degree of autonomy, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution.<\/p>\n
Pressure for a vote on self-determination has grown over the past five years but in the 2015 regional election, won by an alliance of pro-independence parties, about 40% of voters backed parties loyal to Spain.<\/p>\n
Police across Catalonia have been ordered to prevent public buildings being used as polling stations on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Masses of referendum materials have been confiscated by police in recent weeks and officials involved in running the campaign face prosecution.<\/p>\n
However, the Catalan government said on Friday it planned to open more than 2,000 polling stations regardless.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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