London, Brussels, New York and the Great Wall of China – Catalans around the world hold hands for independence

Barcelona (ACN).- Independence supporters are preparing one of the biggest demonstrations ever held in Catalonia: a human chain that is expected to cross the 400 kilometres between the North and the South of the country. The Catalan Way, as it is known by its organisers, will be on the 11th of September, exactly one year after a enormous demonstration in Barcelona which saw about 1.5 million people taking to the streets in order to request independence from Spain.

In the run-up of the Catalan demonstration, more than 100 cities worldwide are organising their own Catalan Way, that are taking place between the 1^st of August and 11^th of September. In London, more than 800 people held hands in two human chains in Westminster: one in Parliament Square and a second one along Abingdon Street. This was the most successful international ‘way’, although probably not the most spectacular, as images coming from the Great Wall of China attracted lots of attention. On the wall about 200 people created a human chain in one of the most beautiful settings of the world. Participants wore Catalan flags and yellow t-shirts.

In New York, hundreds of Catalans and sympathisers gathered in Central Park to prepare their own human chain, and latter sang the Catalan national anthem in Times Square. In the European capital, Brussels, about 300 people participated in a ‘Catalan way’ organised in front of the famous monument of the Atomium.

Similar human chains have been organised in Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Sao Paulo. These international Catalan ways are taking place in more than 100 cities around the globe, in America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

The international ‘Catalan ways’ aim to “draw international attention and attract support for the peaceful and democratic will of the Catalan people to become independent from Spain” and to “celebrate freedom and solidary”, according to their organisers. The ‘Catalan Way’ is inspired by the ‘Baltic Way’ that took place in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in 1989, when two million people held hands linking Vilnius, Riga and Tallin to show their desire for independence from the USSR.

The Catalan way will take place on the 11^th of September at 5:14 pm. This is a symbolic time as in 1714 Catalonia lost its independence after a 14 months siege of Barcelona by the army of the Bourbon king Philip VI. This defeat led to Catalan political institutions becoming banned. It is estimated that in a referendum on independence 57% of Catalans would vote to leave Spain.