Catalan border town fears Madrid will hijack its lifeblood as momentum for indy builds

The protection of the Ebre River has become a key element of the local campaign for Catalan independence. Many fear the Spanish Government plans to redirect water away from the area into other parts of Spain, threatening the wildlife and livelihoods which depend on local agriculture. A riverbank wall in central Tortosa reads: “Lo riu es vida – no al transvasament” (The river is life – no to redirection).

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The river feeds surrounding farms and flows south into the Ebre Delta, an extraordinary wetland ecosystem of lagoons, rice fields and salt marshes renowned among scientists across the world as a unique habitat for many rare species of birds. The delta has also become popular with Catalan artists, writers and painters for its natural beauty. Independence might not guarantee the protection of the water entirely, but locals believe bringing government closer to home would be a step in the right direction.

Earlier this year I went to Tortosa to talk about the Scottish independence referendum at the Sant Jordi’s Day book festival. I spoke to a number of locals who expressed solidarity between our two nations and told me about their hopes for the future. One of these people was Brian Cutts, a Yorkshireman turned Catalan independista who has become active in various campaigns around Tortosa and Terres de l’Ebre. He tells me the fate of the Ebre River is best placed in Catalan hands. “I think in the long term independence will be a good thing,” he says, “as Catalan politicians are more likely to be convinced of the need to comply with EU directives and protect these ecosystems.”

I talk to Cutts about the 2014 referendum in Scotland, where the No side made capital on the border issue and hinted at the installation of border posts. He tells me locals tend not to worry about a new border with Spain. “We’d expect it to be similar to other places in Europe,” he says, “where you can drive more or less directly from country to country with no hold-ups or passport checks. People expect to be able to work, shop and study in Spain with no restrictions, and vice versa.”

In this corner of Catalonia, memories of Franco’s regime are never far away; the city and surrounds were once the front line of the Spanish Civil War. Much of urban Tortosa was destroyed during the conflict and the surrounding hills are still pocketed with trenches. An angular, thorn-like monument unveiled by Franco still towers at the heart of the city, standing in the middle of the river flow beyond the reach of disapproving locals.

In Tortosa, opinion is divided between those who believe the monument should be kept and “recontextualised”, and others who believe its symbolism is inseparable from Francoism and should be removed. “There have been several campaigns to have it removed but to no avail,” Cutts tells me. A public consultation last year showed that the majority of citizens in Tortosa wished to retain it. However, outside of Tortosa the vast majority of Catalans, including the Catalan Parliament and most bodies with an interest in questions of historic memory, continue to think it should be removed from the river and placed in a museum. There is a feeling in Tortosa that the rising tide of the independence movement is leading the younger generation to support the complete removal of the monument. Cutts believes its days are numbered. He said: “In a few years the balance will swing and it will finally disappear from the place it holds now in the river.”

In Catalonia, as in Scotland, it seems the youth movement is vital to the campaign for self-government. Young activists here are bringing a vitality to what has otherwise been a very traditional corner of Catalonia. “Tortosa is a very conservative town,” Cutts explains. “Some say it’s a psychological thing following the suffering in the Civil War and post-war. It’s a town which was very important in the past and has lost its status as being a major city, and perhaps it has difficulties coming to terms with that.”

However, the campaign on the water issue, the resurgence of cultural activities, a small recently-opened university, and now the independence movement all appear to be reviving the town’s imagination.

Hopefully, Cutts tells me, the younger generation don’t share the fears or concerns of traditional Tortosa families.

Tomorrow, Catalans will go to the polls to cast their votes on independence. The Spanish Government insists the vote won’t go ahead, while the Catalan Government says it is prepared for a number of eventualities. Many expect polling stations could be blocked or shut down, especially in Barcelona where some neighbourhoods have felt it necessary to form “referendum defence committees”.

Activists across Catalonia fear that a vote for independence without verified results from the capital could delegitimise the whole referendum project.

But here on the Catalan border, away from the limelight, the people of Tortosa and Terres de l’Ebre expect to be able to vote unimpeded. “The millions of pro-independence Catalan citizens aren’t going to go away,” Cutts says. “Whatever the turnout or the success of [Spanish Prime Minister Mariano] Rajoy’s tactics, I believe independence will arrive soon, whether in a few days or a little later.”

In these final moments before polling there is some anxiety about what events might unfold after the referendum, but there is also a determination that a Catalan Republic will come into being nonetheless, if not in the eyes of the Spanish authorities then at least in the imaginations of the Catalan people. And that, in itself, would be a powerful thing.