Under the motto “Let’s fight and win independence” this year’s Catalan National Day protest will take place both on September 11th and October 1st to vindicate the relevance of the pro-independence referendum on its fourth anniversary and denounce the Spanish repression.
This Thursday morning, the president of the Catalan National Assembly, Elisenda Paluzie, Òmnium Cultural board member Montse Ortiz, and the president of Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), Jordi Gaseni, have presented the outline for this year’s Catalan National Day’s demonstration.
With a single motto, “Let’s fight and win independence!”, The Catalan National Assembly introduced the idea of a double mobilization for both la Diada (Catalan National Day) and the commemoration of the October 1st, 2017 referendum.
Assemblea’s president, Elisenda Paluzie, stated that “These mobilizations aim at empowering the people, showing resilience, strength, and willpower, proving that independence is possible and that it is more necessary than ever. There’ll be two demonstrations instead of one, the traditional September 11th one, upholding our struggle for independence; and several events from October 1st to the 3rd, vindicating the 3.300 victims of Spanish repression.”
Òmnium Cultural board member Montse Ortiz highlighted that “We must fill the streets again since to exercise our self-determination and our freedom is to fulfill our fundamental rights, that we have achieved as a society, and that the Spanish state is constantly repressing”
Mr. Gaseni, in turn, said: “The local sphere has been and will be an essential part of the Catalan independence movement, a coordinated effort that knows the people first-hand, hence why the Spanish state is targeting us.”
The long-standing tradition of massive demonstrations for independence and against the Spanish authorities’ repression took a different shape last year, adapting to the COVID pandemic and taking a digital, de-centralized approach, becoming Europe’s biggest demonstration during 2020’s COVID restrictions. Now, the three organizations set their sights on recovering the massive protests and vindicating the referendum, the Catalan people’s exercise of their right to self-determination, and a symbol of Spain’s repressive power.