Demos for and against independence planned for March

Interest in the issue of Catalonia’s independence continues to bring the public out on to the streets - both for and against. While the pro-independence Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) is calling on people to support a “republican government” (meaning pro-independence) in Barcelona on Sunday March 11, the Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) unionist organization is preparing two demonstrations, one in Madrid on Saturday March 17 and another one in Barcelona the following day, which will look to mobilize Spanish society against the bid for independence.

On Wednesday, the ANC vice president Agustí Alcoberro said that Sunday’s rally was aimed at endorsing the commitment to the results of the October 1 independence referendum and the victory of the pro-independence parties in the December 21 election. Alcoberro said that the ANC aims to fill the roads between the Columbus monument and Ciutadella park in Barcelona with thousands of people, under the slogan ‘Republic now’.

The organizers want to focus attention on the involvement of everyday people, from the firefighters who defended polling places on October 1 to the Reus mechanic charged with hate crimes. There will also be a strong political component, as the protest takes place a day before the parliamentary session to swear in former ANC head Jordi Sànchez as Catalan president. It will also appeal to the pro-independence parties to deliver “the Republic they promised.”

“Not only about Catalans but all Spaniards” says SCC

Meanwhile, the demonstration currently being planned by Societat Civil Catalana in Madrid could not be more different. With the aim of repeating the attendance of the protest against independence organized in Barcelona in October, the SCC is taking its message to Madrid in the hopes of gaining widespread support among Spanish society in general. The SCC wants to pass on the message to the whole of Spain that the political conflict “is not only about Catalans but all Spaniards,” say sources in the organization.

According to the SCC, the Madrid and Barcelona protests will replace a demonstration that was planned for February in the Catalan capital, but that was called off so as not to interfere with the Mobile World Congress. While the protest is still being prepared, the SCC leadership hopes to attract thousands of people from all over Spain to show support for Spanish unity and opposition to Catalan independence. The protest in Madrid is set to end in Plaza de Colón, beneath a huge Spanish flag, and with singer Marta Sánchez performing the Spanish national anthem.