CATALONIA --- 80,000 people defend Catalan institutions at rally against Spain’s use of the courts to halt independence | VilaWeb
HUGE DEMONSTRATION
80,000 people defend Catalan institutions at rally against Spain’s use of the courts to halt independence
'Everyone has to listen to it and nobody should doubt it: we will
continue until the end, we will hit the streets whenever and wherever
necessary', stated ANC’s President, Jordi Sànchez
Barcelona’s Maria Cristina Avenue was overflowing with people this
Sunday due to the 80,000 demonstrators who rallied to defend the Catalan
institutions from Spain’s legal attacks. The mobilisation was organised
by the main pro-independence associations responsible for the massive
rallies which have taken to the streets of Catalonia for the last five
National Days; the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural,
together with the Association of Municipalities for Independence
(AMI). ‘Our cause is democracy and we will never let our elected
representatives down’, stated Òmnium Cultural’s President, Jordi
Cuixart. Some of those figures summonsed by Spain’s justice for
allowing the pro-independence process to be put to vote and comply with
the democratic mandate of the 27-S Catalan Elections include
Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, former Catalan President Artur
Mas and former Catalan Ministers, Joana Ortega, Francesc Homs and Irene
Rigau. However, there are more than 400 towns and villages which have
cases pending with the Spanish State for different political reasons.
‘Everyone has to listen to it and nobody should doubt it: we will
continue until the end, we will hit the streets whenever and wherever
necessary’, stated ANC’s President, Jordi Sànchez who emphasised that
the people are the basis of the pro-independence process. ‘We are going
to make it, because we believe in democracy and because we will carry
out the referendum which the Catalan President and the Parliament have
committed to calling’, continued Sànchez during the demonstration’s
final speeches. ‘The time of doubt and resignation is over’, he stated.
Òmnium Cultural’s President, Jordi Cuixart addressed the citizens and
asked them to be ready ‘for a permanent mobilisation’. ‘This is not
about demonstrating on the 11th of September [Catalonia’s
National Day] or for historic occasions; it is not only independence
which is at stake, it is also democracy and our future as a nation’, he
stated. Cuixart also called for the political parties and elected
representatives ‘to be at the height of the historical moment’ and have
‘a sense of state and generosity in order to build the Catalan
Republic’.
‘When one is attacked, all of us are attacked’, stated the
Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI)’s President, Neus
Lloveras, who accused the Spanish state of being ‘decadent’ and having
‘very low democratic standards’.
Wide representation of the Catalan executive
Many representatives from the Catalan executive attended the
pro-independence rally in Barcelona. Amongst them, Catalan Government
Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, Catalan Vice-President and Minister for
Economy, Oriol Junqueras, Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül
Romeva, Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs,
Catalan Minister for Culture, Santi Vila, Catalan Minister for Health,
Toni Comín, and the politician responsible for the Social Affairs portfolio, Dolors Bassa, as well as Meritxell Serret, Catalan Minister for Agriculture.
‘Today’s event gives the institutions, the Government, the Parliament
and the elected representatives of Catalonia more strength’, stated
Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté. ‘We know that we are not
alone and that we have an important shared challenge, which is taking
the process towards independence forward for welfare, rights and
liberties and the defence of democracy’, she added. Munté also
emphasised that the demonstration was ‘the best contrast between the
decay of a political system, the Spanish one, which persecutes
democracy, and the Catalan institutions that stand up for it and will
continue to do so’. According to Munté ‘any true democrat should feel
challenged by what is happening’ and by ‘the persecution of elected
representatives, of freedom of expression, the normal functioning of our
sovereign parliament and the members of the government who contributed
to putting out the ballot boxes’.
Puigdemont supports the demonstration from his hometown
The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, couldn’t attend the rally
in Barcelona but supported the demonstration from his home village in
Girona, Amer, which named him favourite son on Sunday. ‘We have the
opportunity to create our own future; therefore I ask you not to lose
heart and keep on demonstrating’, he said. ‘We the politicians are not
going to give up, but don’t leave us alone either’, added
Puigdemont. The President also emphasised the need to ‘dialogue’ and
find ‘political solutions’ to respond to Catalonia’s pro-independence
aspirations rather than using the court to stop them.
The summonsed representatives, centre of the rally
Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who has been accused of
‘disobedience’ by Spain’s Public Prosecutor for allowing the
pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in July, attended the
demonstration. Berga’s Mayor, Montse Venturós, who was arrested last
week for refusing to take down a pro-independence flag from the Town
Hall’s building on two Election Days, was also there, together with
CUP’s councillor in Vic, Joan Coma, accused of ‘insurrection’ for
calling for disobedience against the Spanish institutions in a plenary
session. Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former Catalan Minister
for Education, former Catalan Vice President Joana Ortega and former
Catalan Government Spokesman Francesc Homs, all of whom have been
summonsed for allowing the 9-N symbolic consultation to take place in
2014, were also amongst the demonstrators.
