Hundreds rally for Catalan independence in Brussels

A protester waves the "estelada" Catalan independence flag during a demonstration by independence supporters calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders, in Brussels, Belgium, November 12, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Several hundred people rallied in Brussels on Sunday to back the independence push in Catalonia, slam the EU and demand Spain release jailed regional officials.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium, was a no-show at the demonstration that included pro-independence European Parliament members and several members of the exiled regional government.

"Democracy in Spain is not only sick, it is practically dead," Spanish MEP Josep-Maria Terricabras, who backs Catalan independence, told the demonstrators.

"I think that it is absolutely terrible that the European institutions don't understand that when you attack democracy you cannot applaud (Spanish Prime Minister Mariano) Rajoy and institutions in Spain that are outside the law," he added.

The protest, just meters from the European Union's main institutions, came a day after hundreds of thousands of Catalans protested the jailing of regional officials for their push for independence from Spain.

In Brussels, protesters held photos of the jailed officials, as well as signs saying "Shame on you" for the EU's failure to lend support to Catalonia.

Protesters hold a banner during a demonstration by pro-Catalan independence supporters calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders, in Brussels, Belgium, November 12, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Flags from Belgium's Dutch-speaking region of Flanders were also prevalent at the protest, with sympathy deep for the Catalonian cause among Flemish nationalists.

The EU was "founded to not see the return of dictatorship and fascism in Europe," said the ousted Catalan Minister of Health Antoni Comin.

As Comin spoke, the crowd interrupted with chants of "Libertad (freedom)" and "All not here" in reference to the jailed regional officials in Spain.

A protester holds a sign bearing the portraits of Catalan regional officials and reading "freedom" during a demonstration by pro-Catalan independence supporters calling for the release of jailed separatist leaders in Brussels, Belgium, November 12, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Comin is one of five officials who fled to Belgium after Spain dismissed the Catalan executive and imposed direct rule on the semi-autonomous region following the declaration of independence by the parliament there last month.

Belgian judges are reviewing a European arrest warrant filed by Spain on charges of sedition and rebellion against the five Catalans.