The small southern French town of Perpignan is located in what Catalan independence supporters consider to be Northern Catalonia. With a population of 120,000, Perpignan suddenly witnessed just as many Catalonians flooding its streets. The town, located just 30 kilometers from the French border with Spain, became the venue for an event featuring a speech by Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan pro-independence leader who fled his home country following the ill-fated 2017 referendum.

Over 100,000 people joined the rally at a Perpignan Exhibition Center parking lot, according to various estimates. The organizers put the number at as many as 150,000. Some demonstrators went to the city the day before to not miss anything. The number of those trying to attend the event, organized by a group called the Council for the Catalan Republic and headed by Puigdemont himself, was so big that thousands of people were still stuck in traffic on the border when the exiled pro-independence leader was about to begin his speech.

Photos and videos posted on social media show huge crowds of people occupying the broad sun-lit parking lot and waving Catalan flags, as well as holding signs and banners reading: ‘Independence’ and ‘freedom’.