BARCELONA, Spain (PNN) - September 12, 2012 - A million and a half people took to the streets of Barcelona to demand independence for the autonomous Spanish region of Catalonia, while the country as a whole faces crippling debt.

At least one train and more than 1,000 coaches were chartered to bring supporters from all over the region to the march. The protestors filled the streets with red and yellow Catalan flags, rallying under the slogan "Catalonia, a new European state," chanting, “What do the crowds want? A new European state! What do the people want? An independent Catalonia!"

A swelling unemployment rate combined with financial instability have fueled the secessionist spirit. Polls published on Tuesday show that 46.4% support the independence bid - twice as many as in 2008, when the financial crisis began.

The autonomous Spanish community, whose economy is bigger than the entirety of neighboring Portugal's, accounts for a fifth of all Spanish output.

However, it is burdened by the austerity cuts put forth by the Spanish and European governments in response to the global economic crisis that has left one in four Spaniards jobless.