More than a million people held a march in Barcelona to call for greater autonomy for the Catalan region.

The demonstration comes a day after a constitutional court declared that there was no legal basis to recognise Catalonia as a nation.

The ruling also said the Catalan language should not take precedence over Castilian Spanish.

It followed a challenge to the region's statute by the opposition People's Party, which favours Spanish unity.

The statute of autonomy was approved by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum.

It gave greater powers to the regional parliament in taxation and judicial matters.

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In pictures: Catalan march
BBC European regional analyst Sean Fanning says that just how much power should be devolved from Madrid is a constant process of negotiation and that the constitutional court acts as a referee.

Spanish TV reports showed crowds of many thousands in Barcelona waving flags and red and yellow banners reading "We are a nation".

"This demonstration is the start of independence that we want for our country (Catalonia)," one student told AFP news agency.