The rallies in many Catalan cities were called by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and the Omnium Cultural civil organisation, whose former chiefs were also in the dock and sentenced to nine years in prison by the Madrid Supreme Court.

In the regional capital Barcelona there were again clashes with police on Tuesday evening.

The partially disguised demonstrators threw various objects and paint bombs at the security forces while police used truncheons to keep control.

Activists had earlier already blocked several roads while in other cities, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, numerous independence advocates took to the streets.

Dozens of flights at Barcelona's airport were cancelled or delayed earlier because of demonstrations on Tuesday, as the fall-out from massive protests over the sentencing of nine Catalan leaders continued to be felt.

Spain's supreme court on Monday sentenced nine separatist leaders to at least nine years in prison over their roles in an independence referendum.

The sentencing occurred more than two years after the October 2017 referendum on whether to declare Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region, which includes the city of Barcelona, an independent state.

A Spanish court had declared the referendum illegal but it went ahead anyway. Those accused included the region's former vice president, Oriol Junqueras. He received the longest sentence of 13 years.

Australian Associated Press