The pro-independence Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has held a socially-distanced protest action which is the largest Europe has seen during the coronavirus pandemic, with a complex organization that saw 131 events taking place simultaneously throughout Catalonia, all with strict public health measures. The occasion: Catalonia's national day, the Diada. Those who take part, carefully spaced out at 2 metre intervals, even had their temperature taken before the events began punctually at 17:14hours, in reference to the year 1714, when Barcelona fell to Spanish-French troops.
The total turn-out of an event regulated through the use of advance registrations, was 59,500 people, almost 50% more than the 40,000 initially planned. In the last few hours, new gathering points were added, and although self-organized, they also followed the health measures and restrictions and were added to the list of events.
Speaking at Plaça Letamendi - in one of the many gatherings in Barcelona - the ANC president Elisenda Paluzie called for the pro-independence political parties to get beyond the current "disorientation" they are suffering, and work for a consensus on strategy. "If we do not react, we will get stuck in a "victimism" reaction to new injustices," she warned. Referring to the Catalan elections, due in the next few months, she addressed pro-independence party leaders Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras: "Work to get a majority in this election and then respect the mandate of the 1st October referendum and declare independence," she demanded. She called for them to work closely together and said that "people's patience won't last forever."
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For his part, Omnium vice-president Marcel Mauri also warned against internal arguments within the movement, saying that "we already have enough sterile debates", but he also called for the horizon of national liberation to be set. “Let no one cheapen the dream,” he asserted. “This is not about going against each other, but about building a shared future,” he said. “There need to be more of us, yes, but we also need to be more determined,” he said, while appealing not to rule out confrontation.
There were rallies throughout the Catalan capital and all around the country. Plaça Catalunya was another of the locations of socially-distanced protests in the centre of the city.
In Barcelona's Carrer Aragó, protesters called for "Independence"
And a similar scene took place across town in Avinguda Meridiana.
There was also a rally in front of the headquarters of the Social Security Institute on Avinguda Pare Claret in the Catalan capital.
And further north, in the city of Girona, protesters took their carefully-measured positions in the large plaça outside the rail station.
Protesters also gathered in front of the Spanish consulate in Perpinyà in Northern Catalonia, guarded by French police.
The main square of Vic, in Central Catalonia, was filled in the same way, with demonstrators mantaining a rigorous distance.
In the coastal city Mataró, north of Barcelona, they demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the Spanish tax agency.
Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a working class suburb just beyond Barcelona city limits, was also represented today.
And on Tarragona's Rambla (below) and the city's Passeig de l'Estació de Valls (above), locals also came out to the streets.
There were also local residents who came out on to their balconies at 17:14 pm, another option which the ANC had recommended due to the pandemic situation.
In Lleida, a car-based demonstration was held.