The feminist strike in Catalonia and Spain this 8th May for International Women's Day has ended on a high note. Tens of thousands of women (and men) have overflowed the centre of Barcelona this Thursday afternoon. From Passeig de Gràcia they've raised their voices and their fists against sexism in a demonstration of unprecedented scale. Up to 200,000 people, according to Barcelona's Urban Guard. Up to 600,000, according to the organisers. "Without women there is no revolution", was one of the most frequent chants.
Half an hour before the official start time, hundreds of people had already started to gather at the intersection of Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal. At 7pm, the front row of the demonstration started walking down the Passeig to its final destination, Barcelona's famous plaça de Catalunya. Thousands of people had joined the purple wave.
The country's highest-ranking officials were in attendance, with Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, and the Parliament's speaker, Roger Torrent, at the head. There was also a representation of the main parliamentary parties, with the exceptions of PP and Ciutadans. The latter party explained their absence was due to the "mixing of 155 with estelades", referring to the central government intervention in Catalonia using article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and pro-independence "starred" estelada flags.
The march from Diagonal to plaça de Catalunya had two "front rows". The first was reserved exclusively for women, carrying a banner reading "we're stopping to change everything". The second, mixed, had the political and social leaders. This year's International Women's Day was described as "historic" by the organisers, who compared it to the 2003 protests against the Iraq War.
During the speeches, the organisers repeated their participants' messages, from denouncing the wage gap, sexual harassment in workplaces and violence against women to calling for free abortion, covered by Social Security, and a recognition and redistribution of care duties. They demanded more money for the State Pact against domestic violence.
But the claims went beyond the typical boundaries of feminism with calls also heard for a fight against capitalism, for the welcoming of migrants and refugees and the complete separation between church and state.
The event included musical performances linked to the feminist struggle and Catalan castells (human towers). The movement wants to continue beyond today: "it doesn't end today; we'll continue until we achieve the world we want", the organisers said.