Thousands rally in Barcelona for Catalonia’s independence referendum anniversary

Around 60.000 people, according to one of the organizing entities, Council for the Republic, attended the main rally to mark the independence referendum fifth anniversary, which was held in Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf on Saturday from 5pm. Local police lowered the attendence to an estimated 11.000 people.

All mainstream pro-independence parties and entities attended, a prized image given that the two government partners, Esquerra and Junts, are at odds over the way forward to split from Spain – indeed, the coalition may come to an end in the coming days after Junts will hold an internal vote to ask whether they want to exit the executive. Consell de la República, Òmnium, ANC, and AMI civic groups, as well as Intersindical trade union and Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce hosted the event, which remained peaceful.

Yet, the atmosphere was not as festive as some pro-independence protests in the past, and the current disunity and discouragement among campaigners was obvious. Former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell’s speech prompted a split in the crowd, as some cheered her while others booed.

“We already voted”

The president during the 2017 referendum, Carles Puigdemont, received the loudest cheers during his speech. “We already held the referendum, there is no need to repeat it. We already voted,” he said to the crowd. Puigdemont saidthe Council for the Republic, is “ready to lead” the independence push if needed in its “second cycle,” which he said starts now. He also said the negotiation table has to be “between siblings,” referring to the several factions of the independence camp, rather than with Spain.

Also talking in the protest, Dolors Feliu, president of major grassroots civic entity ANC, announced her organization will organize a “large national conference” by February 2023. The aim of this initiative is to put together civic organizations across the country and individuals to discuss a potential new party running in the next Catalan election. Feliu had already suggested this possibility in the National Day rally hosted by her entity last month, which gathered 700.000 people. Yet, this was not the only gathering marking the anniversary, because events took place in several locations across Catalonia especially during the morning.