Catalonia Is Spain!'

Crowd chants at Barcelona rally

That was a reference to the decision by Catalonia's two biggest banks to move their legal headquarters to other parts of Spain in recent weeks due to the political tension.

Chanting "Don't be fooled, Catalonia is Spain!" and waving Catalan, Spanish and European Union flags, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in the Catalan capital Barcelona Sunday, furious at a move by the region's dismissed leaders to break away from Spain.

The crowd, which included parents with young children, retired couples and large groups of youths, made its way along the city's Paseig de Gracia avenue under a bright blue sky as a police helicopter flew overhead.

Carmen Gutierrez, 60, an insurance worker, waved a giant red and yellow Spanish flag and danced to Spanish singer Manolo Escobar's "Y viva Espana" ("And Long Live Spain") as the song blared from speakers.

She said she was at work on Friday when Catalonia's regional parliament voted to declare independence and said to herself: "This won't go far".

"I feel sorry for the people who believed it," she said.

Gutierrez, who was born in Andalusia, said Catalonia's separatist leaders are "guilty of dividing us, guilty of putting our pensions in danger, guilty of causing our banks to leave."

That was a reference to the decision by Catalonia's two biggest banks to move their legal headquarters to other parts of Spain in recent weeks due to the political tension.