THE president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has vowed to use the upcoming National Day of Catalonia to “push for independence”, saying “if the parties don’t do it, we will”.
Dolors Feliu, who became president of the 80,000-strong pro-independence grassroots organisation earlier this year, made these remarks during the unveiling on Tuesday of the route marchers will take for this year’s National Day, or “la Diada”.
Taking place on September 11, the Diada – which commemorates the fall of Barcelona in 1714 during the Spanish War of Succession, which saw the end of the Principality of Catalonia’s governing institutions and the beginning of Spanish King Philip V’s absolutist rule of the nation – will rally independence supporters under the slogan “Tornem-hi per Vèncer: independència” (“We’re back to win: independence!”).
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Speaking at a presentation held at the Fossar de les Moreres, which was used as a graveyard for the fallen during the siege of Barcelona, Feliu said: “The message this year is that we will push for independence. If the parties don’t do it, we will! This Diada will be the one that will start a new onslaught.”
Montse Ortizof of Omnium Cultural commented that the Catalan independence movement “must make a new demonstration of strength and capacity for mobilisation of civil society in Catalonia”, and that “The only way to exercise self-determination is by exercising all the fundamental rights that we have won”.
Jordi Gaseni, president of the Association of Municipalities for Independence, added: “The Spanish state is very clear about where it can harm us: with demobilisation and division. That is why now, more than ever, we must make the effort to fill the streets of Barcelona."
Beyond the Diada, the ANC also plans to commemorate the 2017 Catalan independence referendum on October 1 by calling on the nation’s Territorial Assemblies to collect referendum ballot boxes to carry out symbolic acts in every town in the country.
The ANC maintains that the 2017 independence referendum and the pro-independence majority in Catalonia’s parliament provides a clear mandate for Catalan independence, but that “the liberation of Catalonia will only be achieved with the strength of its people”.
READ MORE: EU is turning a blind eye to Spain spying on Catalan activists
However, the ANC has has condemned what it describes as the “inaction” of Catalonia’s pro-independence political parties, which it “no longer counts on or believes in”.
On Wednesday, representatives of the Catalan and Spanish governments met in Madrid to resume talks of independence – the first such dialogue to take place since the “Catalangate” scandal, in which at least 80 figures tied to the Catalan independence movement were revealed to have been targeted with spyware.
Following the initial round of talks, Spanish presidency minister Félix Bolaños announced that a deal had been struck to “dejudicialize politics” and protect the Catalan language.
According to Catalan presidency minister Laura Vilagra, the agreement "draws from the premise that Catalan is persecuted, and it is the responsibility of all administrations to ensure it will never again be a minority language".
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