Barcelona sees historic demonstration in support of a new Catalan state

For the third year in a row, on Catalonia’s national day, Barcelona has had one of the largest demonstrations in the history of Europe, with two million people, according to the president of ANC, and 1,4, according to local police. This year the event’s success takes on a special meaning, given the proximity of the upcoming elections of 27 September, which many regard as a plebiscite on Catalonia’s independence from Spain.

Today’s rally was a show of strength for the independence movement, and polls predict that its supporters will obtain an absolute majority of seats in the Catalan parliament.

Watch a summary, in nine minutes:

The eyes of the world were on Barcelona today. Major international media were accredited to cover the demonstration, and personalities from different fields were in the city to experience the rally first hand. Among the more prominent participants in the event were FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué and about thirty foreign intellectuals, including Susan George, Kai Olaf Lang, and Irvine Welsh.

Hundreds of thousands of people filled Avinguda Meridiana, one of Barcelona’s main thoroughfares, which leads to the Parliament of Catalonia and passes through some of the city’s liveliest blue-collar neighbourhoods.

In a festive, activist atmosphere, the so-called Gateway to the Catalan Republic embodied the movement’s call for a new state. In a giant and colourful human mosaic, it also made reference to the ten key values that the movement has called the foundation upon which the new state should be built.

The event closed with speeches from Quim Sánchez and Jordi Torra, the respective presidents of the civil society groups that organized the event, ANC and Òmnium Cultural, as well as from the coordinator of ANC’s international chapter, Liz Castro, who delivered a message to the world in English. Finally, the entire Meridiana intoned Catalonia’s national anthem, ‘El cant dels segadors’.

Related news:

Aerial views of pro-independence mass demonstration in Barcelona

Message to the world in English at Catalan independence demonstration: ‘We want our own independent state’