Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has urged businesses not to abandon Catalonia after hundreds of firms moved their legal headquarters away as uncertainty over the region's independence drive drags on.
On his first visit to Catalonia since his government took direct control of the region in response to lawmakers declaring independence, Mr Rajoy asked "all businesses that work or have worked in Catalonia not to go".
Mr Rajoy last month dismissed Catalonia's government and parliament and called for new elections in the region for 21 December.
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"We have to recover the sensible, practical, enterprising and dynamic Catalonia... that has contributed so much to the progress of Spain and Europe," Mr Rajoy said in Barcelona.
Catalonia's independence crisis has pushed more than 2,400 firms to re-register their legal headquarters outside the wealthy northeastern region.
The International Monetary Fund last month warned that Catalonia could face recession were the uncertainty over secession to linger.
Hundreds of thousands of Catalans flooded Barcelona yesterday to demand the release of dismissed regional lawmakers who were detained on the orders of a national judge over their independence bid.
Wearing yellow ribbons on their lapels to signify support, they filled the length of the Avenue Marina that runs from the beach to Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia church, while the jailed leaders' families made speeches.
Catalonia's two main grassroots independence groups called the march, under the slogan "Freedom for the political prisoners," after their leaders were remanded in custody on charges of sedition last month.
The protest was seen as a test of how the independence movement's support has fared since the Catalan government declared independence on 27 October.
An opinion poll this week showed that pro-independence parties would win the largest share of the vote, though a majority was not assured and question marks remain over ousted regional head Carles Puigdemont's leadership of the separatist cause.
Barcelona police said about 750,000 people had attended, many from across Catalonia.
The protesters carried photos with the faces of those in prison, waved the red-and-yellow striped Catalan independence flag and shone lights from their phones.
The Spanish High Court has jailed eight former Catalan government members, along with the leaders of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, while investigations continue.
The High Court last week issued arrest warrants on charges of rebellion and sedition for Mr Puigdemont, who flew to Brussels after being deposed, and four other former government members who went with him.
