Barcelona's Women's Day to focus on activists for nature and social justice

Barcelona city council will commemorate International Women's Day with an extensive program of events devoted to women who defend nature and social justice.

The events begin this Saturday with the award of the 8 March - Maria Aurèlia Capmany Prize, which this year has the slogan "Ecofeminism and climate emergency."

The aim of the prize is to recognize women-led projects for fighting the climate emergency and for developing ecofeminist activities in Barcelona.

Under the slogan "Ecofeminism is the answer," between February 29 and March 21, the program will see such activities as roundtables, concerts, workshops, and theater.

Inspiring the program are such public figures as Greta Thunberg, Berta Zúñiga, Alexandria Villaseñor, María José Bejarano, Artemisa Barbosa Ribeiro, and Nakabuye Hilda F.

Protests and strikes

Last year, hundreds of thousands of people protested on the streets of towns and cities all over Catalonia demanding an improvement in women's rights and gender equality.

The demonstrations followed a day-long general strike on International Women's Day on March 8, with over 70% of students and university workers around Catalonia taking part. 

For the past two years, Barcelona alone has seen some 200,000 people turn out for the official Women's Day demonstration, with a similar number hoped for this year.