With just hours to go until their date with destiny, supporters of Catalan independence have staged a final rally ahead of this weekend’s banned referendum on breaking away from Spain.<br /><br />Central government has confiscated voting slips and other materials to try to halt a ballot it says is illegal, insisting it won’t go ahead.<br /><br />But the thousands who gathered in Barcelona for the end-of-campaign gathering were defiant.<br /><br />“Today we won, because they did not know us and still don’t know us,” Catalonia’s regional leader Carles Puigdemont told the crowd.<br /><br />“They wanted us to surrender at the first sign of trouble, but they did not know that we, as a people that face difficulties, become stronger and this means to win.”<br /><br />Catalonia’s case for independence is rooted in the region’s history and culture, but only 41% are likely to vote yes pic.twitter.com/yBf7fcUn7f— The Economist (@TheEconomist) 28 septembre 2017<br /><br />Organisers say 60,000 people have registered to participate in a mass sleepover at schools being used for Sunday’s vote, despite police orders to evacuate polling stations by 6 a.m. on Sunday morning.<br /><br />With the two sides on collision course, tension is mounting <br /><br />with Reuters<br />
