IT is one of the most colourful and popular festivals in Catalonia and, after going virtual last year, their Books and Roses Day will be online again when it launches next month.
However, there will be something a little extra at this year’s event as organisers plan to have on display the Catalan Declaration of Independence from 2017, translated into as many languages as possible – including Scots.
The Council for the Republic, which was set up in Waterloo by former president Carles Puigdemont, who is exiled in Belgium, is planning to upload the translations for a global audience before the big day.
Anna, one of the council’s organisers, told The National: “We would like to upload the translation of the Declaration of Independence in as many languages as possible at the web of the Council for the Republic.
“I have it in Catalan, the original language, of course, now in Spanish and in English – both are first versions and still to be double-checked.
“It would be wonderful if somebody could translate it into Scots, it would be a really nice connection.”
The declaration is a historic document, and was adopted by a pro-indy majority in the Catalan Parliament on October 27, 2017 in the wake of the independence referendum earlier that month.
Spain declared the poll illegal and imposed a period of direct rule, effectively neutering Catalan government departments.
It addresses the people of Catalonia “and all the people of the world” on the basis that justice and collective human rights are the “foundations which give meaning to the historical legitimacy and the legal and institutional traditions of Catalonia”. The document says the Catalan nation, language and culture have 1000 years of history, and highlights the measures Spain took to annul its sovereignty, despite the Catalans’ wish for “institutional coexistence”.
In establishing the Catalan Republic, the declaration says it is based on law, democracy and social welfare, and adds: “We affirm the will to open negotiations with Spain without any preconditions, aimed at establishing a collaborative system for the benefit of both parties. The negotiations shall necessarily be on an equal footing.
“We inform the international community and the authorities of the European Union of the establishment of the Catalan Republic and the proposal for negotiations with Spain.
“We urge the international community and the European Union authorities to intervene to stop the current violation of civil and political rights, and to monitor and oversee the negotiation process with the Spanish State. We express our will to build a European project that reinforces the social and democratic rights of citizens, as well as our commitment to continue to apply – without any break and in a unilateral manner – the norms of the legal orders of the European Union, and those of the Spanish State, and the Catalan autonomy that this norm transposes.”
The National has risen to the challenge, which has now been accepted by one of our leading Scots writers.
He told us he was looking forward to it, adding: “You have absolutely chapped at the right door here like.”
We will keep you informed and promise an early “sneak peek” at the translated document.
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