Several foreign assemblies of the Catalan National Assembly are organising political, cultural and social events on the occasion of this year’s Diada, the Catalan National Day. In Catalonia, the September 11 demonstration will also have a strong international presence, with around a hundred representatives from all over the world.
With the Diada approaching, several foreign assemblies of the Catalan National Assembly are mobilising the Catalan diaspora with various political, cultural and social events to commemorate and celebrate September 11. The date is of paramount importance for the Catalan independence movement because of its historical significance. It commemorates the fall of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, when Catalonia lost the governing institutions it had maintained since the Middle Ages.
Assemblea’s foreign assemblies, such as those in France, Germany, England, Brussels, the Netherlands, Mexico, the United States, Ireland and Luxembourg, have organised events on the occasion of the National Day of Catalonia. As every year, the Diada abroad unites politics and culture on a day when Catalan traditions go hand in hand with mobilisation and with the claim for Catalonia’s right to self-determination and independence.
In London, a vermouth will kick off a very complete Diada on Saturday 9, with children’s activities, a stall selling Catalan products, performances by the London castellers and the Catalan choir, a communal lunch and musical performances. Assemblea’s Strategy and Discourse Committee coordinator, Uriel Bertran, will take part in a debate on the present and future of the independence movement, with representatives of Catalan political parties.
As it is now tradition, ANC Netherlands will hold its popular boat trip with pro-independence Estelada flags along the canals of Amsterdam on the September 11, with a lunch afterwards in front of the city’s monument to Picasso. The foreign assembly in Luxembourg has organised a conference on Monday evening on the proposed amnesty and its possible consequences for the independence movement.
In France, there will be two rallies organised by the Assembly and local organisations in solidarity with Catalonia: in Paris on Sunday, and in Nice on Monday. Meanwhile, Catalans in Hamburg will enjoy a guided tour of the Altona Museum and a snack, organised jointly with the association El Pont Blau.
On the other side of the Atlantic, ANC Mexico has organised an online round table on Sunday 10th on ‘Minoritised languages: internalisation of submission and self-repression’ with the psychologist and initiator of the campaign ‘Don’t change the language’ Rosario Palomino, and Jordi Martí Monllau, philosophy professor and author of ‘Language and national identity’. Throughout the weekend, ANC USA has organised several meetings and activities in cities such as Dallas, Minneapolis and Washington, with the collaboration of the Catalan Casals.
In Brussels, Assemblea’s foreign assembly and other Catalan organisations will celebrate the Diada with live music and an aperitif with local products. After 11 September, ANC Ireland will celebrate the Diada with concerts and children’s activities.
International delegations and meeting point for the Diada in Barcelona
Representatives of political, social and trade union organisations from various countries and stateless nations from all over Europe and the world will attend the demonstration this September 11 in solidarity with the Catalan cause for independence. Delegations from the Basque Country, Galicia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Sahara, Biafra, Kabyle, Sardinia, Occitanie, Flanders, the Moluccas, Castile, Xinjiang, Portugal, the Canary Islands, Rif and Xinjiang will take part in the international block of the demonstration, at the head of the Country column leaving from plaça Països Catalans, organised jointly by Assemblea and CIEMEN.
This year, during the Catalan National Day, the Assembly will have an International Meeting Point in plaça Universitat. This will serve as an information centre for international visitors on the Catalan people’s struggle for independence and Assemblea’s international actions, and it will also be the accreditation point for guests from foreign delegations who will join the head of this year’s demonstration, as well as for international media and correspondents covering the event.
International press and correspondents interested in covering the Diada mobilisation should email international@assemblea.cat.