THOUSANDS of protesters took to the streets of Barcelona yesterday to mark the first anniversary of last October’s Catalan independence referendum, known as 1-O.

Sporadic action took place throughout the day with pro-independence activists blocking some main roads and rail routes for a time early in the morning.

The referendum was declared illegal by Spain, and Spanish police left more than 1000 people injured when they beat would-be voters with riot batons and shut down more than 300 polling stations.

Despite this more than 2.2 million people – 43% of those eligible – cast their votes with Yes taking 90.1% of the total.

Yesterday, thousands of activists returned to the school and public buildings which had been used as polling stations to mark the anniversary, leaving written messages along with yellow bows and red carnations. Pro-indy group, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), put more than 800 plaques in the buildings around Catalonia reading “Here we voted, here we won”.

Speaking in the village of Sant Julià de Ramis, in Girona, a defiant Catalan President Quim Torra reiterated his government’s commitment to the 1-O mandate.

“The first of October is and will always be the day the Catalan people demonstrated their immense commitment to democracy and freedom,” he said.

“Its irrevocable commitment to civil and political rights. The first of October was democracy in a pure state, defeating fear, threats and violence.”

Torra went on to denounce the “situation of absolute gravity” in which Catalonia lives, and called for the release of the nine jailed political prisoners and the return of those in exile – including former president Carles Puigdemont in Belgium and St Andrews University academic Professor Clara Ponsati, in Scotland.

“Today a year ago, Spain repressed a basic right such as the right of self-determination and freedom of expression,” said Torra.

“Almost all the members of that government are today in jail or in exile as a result of that day of democratic outbreak.

“Those who are not in jail or in exile have been prosecuted, as have been thousands of citizens, councillors and mayors who put themselves at the service of the free expression of the Catalans. A year later we live in a situation of absolute gravity.

“We demand also the immediate release of political prisoners, the return of exiles, the archiving of the general cause against independence and freedom of expression, and scrupulous respect for the most basic principles of democracy.”

Torra added: “This government reiterates its commitment to the democratic mandate of the first of October and the absolute support to all reprisals for defending the fundamental democratic principle of self-determination.”