(22 Oct 2017) Dancers performed the sardana, a traditional Catalan dance, in Barcelona on Sunday in a show of defiance as Spain unveiled plans to take control of the prosperous region of Catalonia, which is threatening to secede.
In the sardana, dancers hold each other's hands in a circle and take steps in rhythm to music played by an orchestra known as the cobla.
Marina Garcia, who plays in the cobla, said the constitutional crisis called for central authorities in Madrid and regional authorities in Barcelona to dance a political sardana and find a solution through dialogue.
Josep Rosanas, a resident of Barcelona brushed aside any talk of Catalans inching away from calls to be independent.
The 72-year old said the sardana dance, an emblem of Catalan identity was all but forbidden during the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco in the 20th century.
On Saturday, Spain announced an unprecedented plan to sack Catalonia's separatist leaders, install its own people in their place and call a new local election.
Catalonia's president responded by making a veiled independence threat, telling lawmakers to come up with a plan to counter Spain's "attempt to wipe out self-government."
The slow-burning constitutional crisis over secession escalated this month when regional government officials held a disputed independence referendum on 1 October.
The country's Constitutional Court has so far ruled against all moves toward secession, including the Catalan referendum.
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