King Juan Carlos abdicates: Demonstrations calling for a third republic reach London and Berlin

At least 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square and another 5,000 in Barcelona's Plaza de Catalunya, carrying the tricolour – red, yellow and purple – republican flag.

Those in Barcelona and other towns and cities in Catalunya also used the situation to call for a referendum on the north-eastern region's independence.

They carried banners reading, España, mañana, será republicana ('Spain, tomorrow, will be Republican'); Los Borbones, a las elecciones ('The Bourbons should hold elections'); 'Royal transition without a King', referring to the transition to democracy upon dictator General Franco's death in 1975 which led to the crowning of HRH Juan Carlos I, son of the Count of Barcelona; 'long live the fight of the working class', and 'Things happen in threes, another republic, please', since if their wishes were to be granted, it would be Spain's third republic in its history.

Left-wing political parties including Izquierda Unida (United Left, or IU), independent outfits Equo and Podemos – the latter having gained an unprecedented five seats in the European Parliament just three months after it was formed in humble conditions – joined the marches, with IU's leader Cayo Lara seen in the Puerta del Sol.

Around 60 demonstrations in total were held across Spain, including in Alicante and Valencia in the east, Sevilla, Málaga and Granada in Andalucía, Badajoz, Mérida and Cáceres in Extremadura, Zaragoza, Ferrol and A Coruña in Galicia, Tarragona, Girona and Lleida in Catalunya, Bilbao in the Basque Country, Salamanca and Burgos  in Castilla y León, and Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.

They even took place in Berlin and other German cities, given that the central European country has become the destination of choice for the young, highly-qualified and unemployed, and in London (pictured above right) outside the Spanish embassy.