ANC, Òmnium to hold rallies on National Day in response to Madrid’s attacks

BarcelonaWith Catalonia’s National Day only one month away, last Friday the Catalan National Assembly (ANC, in Catalan) and Òmnium Cultural (1) called on independence supporters to take part in the September 11 rallies to show that Catalan hearts “beat as one” and that the nation has the team spirit required to carry independence through and face up to “Madrid’s attacks”. The grassroots groups intend to use the latest actions by the Spanish authorities against the independence movement to persuade thousands of Catalans to join in the events on September 11 once more. On Friday Òmnium vice president Marina Llansana provided a taste of this when she encouraged “democracy supporters” to march in the streets of Catalonia on September 11, in a gesture that aims to prove that Catalonia’s independence movement is alive and kicking and enjoys the people’s support despite Madrid’s recent efforts to thwart it.

Speaking from Lleida’s Camps Elisis, where the pro-independence groups unveiled the details of this year’s Diada (National Day), Llansana referred to the Fernández Díaz case, the suspensions ordered by Spain’s Constitutional Court and the Spanish government’s drive to have Carme Forcadell, the Speaker of the Catalan parliament, impeached. The Òmnium vice president stated that these are the best reasons to rally in the streets on September 11, when Catalonia’s National Day is set to become a massive cry for independence for the fifth year running. Ahead of the vote of confidence on Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in parliament scheduled for next month, this year’s Diada will take place in the most uncertain political scenario in the last few years. So far 50,000 people have signed up online to take part in five simultaneous rallies on September 11, but organisers are hoping to boost the figure all the way to 100,000 in order to fill every designated space in the five cities that have been selected: Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida, Berga and Salt.

As they have done every year, the ANC and Òmnium are encouraging participants to purchase and wear a special edition T-shirt. This year’s is white with a yellow dot on the chest bearing an R for “Republic” and the motto “All set” underneath. The novelty is a marker pen which participants are encouraged to write their names with on the back of their T-shirts, above number 11, in order to personalise them. The number alludes to the date of the event and symbolises the “team spirit” needed to carry independence through. Oriol Codina, the coordinator of the ANC’s events committee, remarked that “this year’s T-shirt is in the colours of a team, with a winning number 11, to score the goal of our lives”.

“Beats” in synch

Besides the T-shirt, the two grassroots groups also gave details of what the September 11 events will consist of. While last’s year rally on Barcelona’s Avinguda Meridiana emphasised “the path” this year’s —the first Diada with a pro-independence majority in parliament— will highlight the notion that “the end” of the independence process is within reach and Catalonia is “all set” to witness the birth of a new Catalan Republic. A simultaneous “beat” will symbolise this birth —by raising and lowering sheets of yellow cardboard that will be given out on the day— in all five cities at 17:14 (2)

The bells of Lleida’s cathedral will toll at that symbolic time, followed by an instrumental piece that will cue in the first beats from Lleida city, followed by Berga, Salt, Tarragona and Barcelona. Finally, a firework will be let off to signal the time for the synchronous beats, a symbol of the unity which civil society demands ahead of the last stretch of the independence process.

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(1) N.T. The ANC and Òmnium are the two main non-partisan grassroots groups behind the massive September 11 rallies in Catalonia.

(2) N.T. Catalonia was deprived of its laws and institutions following a military defeat in 1714, hence the special meaning of this figure.