Two weeks ago Barcelona authorities estimated that nearly 1.4 million Catalans participated in a demonstration to voice their desire to secede from Spain.

Hopeful separatists say that, as early as 2017, a unilateral declaration of independence could be made by parliament. So the plan is to get separatists into parliament.

Raul Romeva, the leading candidate for the pro-independence parties, says what the separatists really want is to stage an independence referendum so that Catalonia's voters could be able to directly express their concerns, according to Associated Press. As the central government in Madrid refuses this, "the only way we can know what the people want is to use the elections "

The upcoming regional elections will be held on Sept. 27. Pro-independence parties will need 68 seats in the 135-member parliament in order to push their agenda.

Noelia Godoy, a 25-year-old separatist, said she would be voting for a pro-independence party because she believes Catalonia does not get back from the government what it pays in taxes. "(We) have our own language, a culture, customs. We share many things (with Spain), but there are other very different things. We feel like a nation and that's why we want to be independent," Godoy explained.

Whatever the hopes for an independent Catalonia are Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has consistently slammed the very possibility. “There will be no Catalan independence,” adding, “We are talking about regional elections, in which people will choose their regional parliament. Nothing else," Rajoy told reporters, according to the Guardian.

Romeva, for his part, will not guess at the chances of an independent Catalonia just yet, but he does see that the regional elections are vital to his cause. “What I am absolutely convinced of is that nothing is going to change until there is a clear, democratic mandate in Catalonia,” says the 44-year-old candidate.