Parliament bid farewell to Muriel Casals

Barcelona (CNA).- Pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP Muriel Casals was honoured this Thursday in an institutional event at the Parliament. Casals, who passed away on Sunday, was president of the civil association promoting Catalan language and culture Òmnium Cultural and was regarded as a central figure of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The institutional event gathered together representatives from all the authorities in Catalonia, including all the former Presidents since democracy was restored who are still alive: Jordi Pujol, Pasqual Maragall, José Montilla and Artur Mas. The event combined protocol speeches with live music and poetry. Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stated that the best way to honour Casals’ memory will be by “fulfilling her dream” and said that “the new country will also carry her name”. 

Catalan journalists Antoni Bassas and Mònica Terribas reflected on Casals’ life, from exile in Avignon, where she was born, to the massive rallies she led, all the way up to her membership of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) and her commitment to Catalonia’s pro-independence movement, joining ‘Junts Pel Sí’ in 2015 and entering Parliament at the end of that year. “Muriel was set to be the soft but at the same time firm voice of a feeling that some may not share but which everyone should respect” stated the journalists. “Farewell Muriel, farewell lovely” they said in conclusion.

President Puigdemont: “The new country will carry her name too”

President Puigdemont asked for the new country to be inspired by people like Muriel Casals. “The new country should resemble the best people” he stated, and emphasised that Casals represented some of “the best values” which “must constitute the basis of the new country”, such as progress, inclusion, social justice, culture, humanity and generosity. Puigdemont also stated that the best way to honour Casals’ memory will be by “fulfilling her dream” and said that the new country “will carry her name too”. 

Forcadell: “We will keep on working for our dream”

“We will keep on working for our dream, sadder, but firm as a rock”, stated the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who was, together with Casals, one of the main people responsible for the pro-independence massive rallies which have taken place in Barcelona for the past six years. “We are the dream” she stated, paraphrasing some of Casals’ words. 

Forcadell emphasised Casals’ “humility, firmness and courage” and described her as “an example of commitment to the country”. “She showed us that it is possible to lead big changes and to do it with humility and a big smile”, she stated.

Cuixart: “We, the ‘Murielists’”

President of Òmnium Cultural, and Casals’ successor at the head of the civil association, Jordi Cuixart, stressed that Casals’ role “became much bigger than Òmnium”. “She was the standard bearer for many people’s wishes” he stated and invited the audience to attend the popular event, organised by Òmnium, which took place outside the Parliament after the institutional event. “Her farewell could only take place there, in the streets”. 

Representatives from all the parties in the Parliament attended the event with the exception of Xavier García Albiol, from the People’s Party. He was the only parliamentary group president absent.