国际英语新闻:Thousands gather in Madrid to defend Spanish constitution

MADRID, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people gathered in Madrid on Saturday to defend the Spanish constitution and the unity of Spain almost a week after an illegal independence referendum was held in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia.

The demonstration was organized by around 50 organizations and people gathered in the Plaza de Colon in Madrid holding flags of Spain and shouting slogans such as "I am Spanish" or "no dialogue with those taking part in a coup d'etat".

The self-determination referendum held six days ago had been declared illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court, as it breached Spanish constitution.

Meanwhile, Saturday also saw thousands of people gathered in city council squares around Spain to ask the Spanish government and the regional government of Catalonia (Generalitat) to talk about the Catalan issue.

People were dressed in white with no flags, as requested by the organizers, a citizens' movement called "Shall we talk?" that was born in social media to encourage dialogue between the central government and the regional one.

According to Barcelona's local police, Guardia Urbana, around 5,500 people gathered in city council square, Sant Jaume, while in Madrid, around 100 people gathered in Plaza Cibeles, the city council square.

Meanwhile, Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, announced he would appear in the regional parliament on Tuesday to explain the situation after Monday meeting was banned by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

Several people and groups have offered themselves to mediate, but so far no definitive decision has been taken on the issue.