Catalan separatists will mark their national day today with demonstrations and renewed calls for a break from Spain - but leaders of both camps are indicating they would prefer negotiation to confrontation.
Hundreds of thousands of Catalans plan to form a 400-km (250 mile) human chain across the northeastern region, from Valencia to the French border.
They will join hands in an unbroken line at 5.14pm local time to remember the defeat of Catalan forces on 11 September, 1714, by Philip V of Spain after a 13-month siege of Barcelona.
The demonstrators aim to revive their push for secession after huge pro-independence marches last year. That surge in secessionist fervor led to a pledge from Catalan President Artur Mas to hold a referendum in 2014.
But this year things may be different for the region of 7.6 million people, traditionally wealthy but now strapped for cash.
Twelve months after a double dispute over the poll and a Catalonian drive for more tax autonomy, Mas and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy have signalled they are willing to talk.
Protests but Catalans prefer talking to confrontation