Barcelona 08/10/2023 and las 08:43 CEST
Under the motto ‘Not in my name. Neither amnesty, nor self-determination’, the call will try to emulate the 2017 demonstration, although everyone is aware that repeating the feat is a chimera
After many September 11ths of massive independence demonstrations, October 8, 2017 was the moment of the self-proclaimed “silent majority“, which against the odds managed to fill the streets of the center of the Catalan capital with Spanish flags at the height of the ‘procés’. It was the response of the non-independence supporters to the referendum of October 1 and to a possible unilateral declaration of independence. Six years later, Societat Civil Catalana will return to the streets this Sunday, this time to protest against the amnesty law which is being negotiated within the framework of the talks for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and having lost one of the legs: the socialists.
The call, under the motto ‘Not in my name. Neither amnesty, nor self-determination‘, will try to emulate the 2017 demonstration, although everyone is aware that repeating the feat is a chimera. At that time there were 350,000 people, according to the Urban Guard; one million, according to the organization. But beyond the usual dance of figures, the truth is that they collapsed the center of Barcelona, filling the entire street of Pau Claris and Via Laietana, from Diagonal to Plaza de Antonio López. The organization does not want to venture to put figures because they are aware that the time is different. Nor have the last Diadas managed to repeat their historic demonstrations of strength.
Be that as it may, the march will begin at 12:00 noon at the intersection between Passeig de Gràcia and Carrer de Provença, just in front of La Pedrera, and will run to Gran Via where the parliaments will be held. The president of SCC will intervene there, Elda Matathe vice president, Alex Ramosthe professor of constitutional law Teresa Freixes and the ex-socialist Francisco Vazquez, who left the party in 2014 due to disagreements.
Without the PSC and with Feijóo, Ayuso and Abascal
There will be no parliaments of political leadersnor will they get to go on stage, unlike six years ago, when Albert Rivera, Dolors Montserrat, Xavier García Albiol o Salvador Illa -then organizational secretary of the PSC- chanted from above. In fact, they won’t even occupy the first row of the header. From the Civil Society they want to prevent the parties from capitalizing on the demonstration and have even repeatedly asked them not to display logos or flags of their formations. Although, they will hardly be able to hide their prominence, given the large number of political leaders.
The spotlight will be on the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who will be accompanied by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, one of the first leaders of the PP to confirm her attendance, as well as other regional presidents such as Juanma Moreno or Fernando López Miras. He will also be the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascalwhich is premiering, or the general secretary of Cs, Adrian Vazquez. Although the photograph will be incomplete, because the PSC will not be there. Unlike 2017, when Joseph Borrell He went on stage at SCC and asked the then ‘president’ Carles Puigdemont not to push “the country towards the precipice”, now the socialists consider the demonstration contrary to their interests. If any of its leaders attend, they will “in a personal capacity”.
On the other hand, for the PP it is quite the opposite. In Genoa they know that this 😯 is one of the main assets to establish itself as the alternative to Pedro Sanchez and for its objective of establishing itself as the right-wing leaders in Catalonia. A competition that Ciutadans won six years ago and that left the popular – who then lived in Moncloa – with a testimonial representation in Catalonia. The popular party already called an event-concentration against the amnesty on September 24 in Madrid, where Feijóo managed to pose with the former presidents Mariano Rajoy y José María Aznar, which helped him strengthen himself internally before his failed investiture. Sunday’s demonstration is seen in Genoa as the return match.
All this, once the negotiations to agree on this amnesty law have already intensified, even with the exchange of documents between the different actors. For now, Sumar’s proposal, advanced this Friday by El Periódico de Catalunya, from the Prensa Ibérica group, proposes exonerating all “actions” to achieve independence since 2013. A text that the acting president and leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sanchezmade it clear that it was not his, although he spoke for the first time about amnesty and admitted to being negotiating this formula to achieve a “stable government” and “overcome the judicial consequences” of the ‘procés’.
The “anteroom” of self-determination
In the midst of this context, SCC appeals to all those opposed to the exoneration to “take their stand” in the streets and send Sánchez the message that the “cessions” to the independentists are “a wrong path.” The entity defends that the approval of this law to benefit those prosecuted and convicted of 1-O “was not in the electoral program” of the PSOE and which, therefore, is not endorsed by citizens nor should it be carried out. Furthermore, according to the entity, it is an unconstitutional measure and they consider that it would be “the prelude to self-determination.”