The details of this year's version of the annual Catalan independence rally for the Diada of September 11th have been announced. The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) presented the 2022 route this Tuesday at the Fossar de les Moreres in central Barcelona. The National Day of Catalonia this year will see a return to a "standard" demonstration - that is, one which starts in one place (in this case, Avinguda Paral·lel) and finishes in another (Estació de França), passing by the Columbus monument at the bottom of the Rambla. So the 2022 call is for a straightforward street march, rather than the visual 'performance' style events which have been held in some of the ten years since the 21st century tradition of multitudinous Diada rallies began. The president of the pro-independence organization, Dolors Feliu, insisted on the need for those coming to the mobilization to really believe that independence is possible, and that it is not just "a mirage".
The reason why the ANC has chosen to hold a demonstration with a point-to-point route and without any kind of performance is due to the tone that the management of the body wants the mobilization to have. Asked about this issue, the ANC's mobilization coordinator, Esther Güell, said that the September 11th demonstrations "are no longer a party". "We no longer want to do beautiful things", she added, and argued that the demonstrations must be efficient. "It is important to have a huge turnout, and that all those who come respond resolutely to the current situation", said Güell.
The route of this year's demonstration features monuments situated in the middle of the road as well as paved areas that divide the carriageway. This is why the organization has decided to form two columns, to facilitate the movement of people through these central streets of Barcelona. The members of the ANC who were at Fossar de les Moreres today are confident that the attendance will be strong, and encouraged demonstrators to fill the space between the two marching columns by waving estelada flags.
This presentation was also attended by the president of the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), Jordi Gaseni. He said that "every day that passes we are moving further away from the decisive step" that was taken in 2017. "With every day that passes the challenge is greater for the country to become what we want", he added; and he was very grateful to the ANC for having organized the September 11th Diada rally for another year. "This Diada will be very important", he said.
Also present was Montse Ortiz, member of Òmnium Cultural, who also thanked the ANC "for organizing once again" the Catalan National Day demonstration. "We stand with out colleagues in the ANC because we are clear that we will never give up mobilizing", she added, insisting that the only path to national liberation is to "exercise each and every one of the rights achieved as a civil society".