On the 50th anniversary of the Onze de Setembre of 1976, La Vanguardia brought together this week the former presidents of the Generalitat José Montilla and Artur Mas to talk about what the first authorized Diada after Franco’s death meant, and about the challenges of today’s Catalonia.
The president of Òmnium Cultural, Xavier Antich, has made an urgent call to Catalanist, sovereigntist, and independentist forces to articulate a “broad, majority, and radically democratic civic front” capable of confronting the threat of the far right and rebuilding social hegemony in Catalonia within the framework of the political event held by the entity this noon on the occasion of the Diada.
Although far from the massive marches of the procés period, the independence movement showed strength again this Friday and was able to gather 57,000 people in the three demonstrations held in Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta –16,000 more than last year– under the slogan “Hi soc. Hi som. Independència” (I am here. We are here. Independence). But beyond the numbers, the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC), the main organizer of the event, took advantage of the Diada to look ahead to 2027. A year full of ingredients that could act as a catalyst for a movement that in recent years has been more distinguished by its internal struggles than by its strategic unity: the tenth anniversary of the 1-O referendum, the expected first autumn without “exiles” since then, and also a very likely government of the Partido Popular and Vox in Madrid.
La Diada of September 11 usually becomes a political thermometer. It not only serves to assess the mood and relationships among the various souls of Catalan nationalism, but also measures Catalonia’s position in a global context. If the first Diada of democracy, that of 1976 in Sant Boi, served to demand freedom and democracy, now the context is marked by problems in the most basic services – education, healthcare, mobility, housing… – and the rise of the far right. Faced with the risk that extremisms may boil over in this broth, the Catalan Executive claims coexistence, plurality, and the democratic commitment that prevailed 50 years ago.
The Supreme Court judge who instructed the procés case, Pablo Llarena, has yet to definitively close the matter regarding former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. The magistrate opposed applying the Amnesty law to the post-convergent leader, understanding that he personally profited from organizing the October 1, 2017 referendum and therefore is excluded from this legal benefit. Legal sources explained yesterday, in the discussions following the opening of the Judicial Year, that the magistrate will review the application of the statute of limitations as soon as the Constitutional Court evaluates the interpretation made by the instructor. His thesis, that the leaders of the procés enriched themselves by organizing the October 1 referendum because they did so with public money and not personal funds, is the same one upheld by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court regarding those already convicted, such as former vice president Oriol Junqueras who requested to be granted amnesty and have his disqualification penalty canceled. All of them appealed to the Constitutional Court, which on the 22nd will review the first of the appeals for protection.
“The Kingdom of Morocco refuses to be used as a pre-electoral political pawn, nor will it accept being the scapegoat in political score-settling” in Spain, warned today the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Los Mossos d’Esquadra charged around 18:00 to contain the advance of antifascist demonstrators, who tried to access the Fossar de les Moreres, where the president of AC, Sílvia Orriols, is scheduled to make a floral offering supported by supporters of her party. According to 3cat, the action resulted in at least four arrests.
The first ordinary plenary session of the political course in Congress has started with the approval of a law promoted by Sumar to grant Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born under Spanish administration – before September 29, 1977 -. The regulation now goes to the Senate for final approval and is passed at a significant moment for relations between Spain and Morocco following the massive entry of immigrants into Ceuta from late July.
The Supreme Court assures that it has provisionally suspended the registrations in the Census of Spanish Voters Resident Abroad (CERA) as a consequence of the naturalizations under the so-called Grandchildren law, which opens the door to acquiring Spanish nationality and consequently the right to vote in general elections for descendants of Spanish exiles without the need to reside in Spain, due to the perception of a “well-founded, real, and serious danger” to the objectivity and transparency of upcoming elections.
Felipe VI referred this Thursday to the meeting he held this week at the Zarzuela Palace with the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the main military leaders to analyze the situation in Ceuta. In the informal conversations following the opening ceremony of the Judicial Year, the King explained that among the responsibilities he has as head of state is to be informed about the various military operations.
