The Spanish King arrived in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress technology fair.

According to reports, hundreds of police faced off with angry protesters in the Catalonia capital.

As a mark of protest, senior Catalonia lawmakers, including Barcelona Mayoress Ada Colau, refused to attend a formal reception.

Colau said she was upset with the monarch who decided to side with the national government and suppress the independence movement.

Meanwhile, the reputed Catalan Centre for Opinion Studies revealed last week that the number of people harbouring pro-independence sentiments have dropped.

The results suggested that 53.9 percent reject independence while 40.8 percent support it. In October 2017, 48.7 percent backed catalonia independence.