Catalan protest platform Democratic Tsunami accepts - and does not fear - the "proposal" of the state. Even if, with the election campaign now underway, the Spanish government has threatened police action if anything happens to affect the official "day of reflection" - the eve of the 10th November election - the Tsunami platform, set up to respond to last month's court verdicts, is maintaining its call to the public to carry out "civic and festive activities" on that day, Saturday, 9th November.
The Democratic Tsunami has published a message this Saturday evening via its social media channels: "On 9th November, Tsunami proposes events that are civic, festive and to encourage reflection. The state proposes ... police. Okay."
El 9N Tsunami proposa actes cívics, festius i per reflexionar. L'estat proposa... policia.
— Tsunami Democràtic (@tsunami_dem) November 2, 2019
D'acord.#SpainSitAndTalk #LaForçaDeLaGent https://t.co/iQvLUmZtup
Earlier on Saturday, acting Spanish justice minister Dolores Delgado had made a call "for calm" in a visit to Tarragona, to ensure that the day of reflection - when election campaigning is not allowed - "is not distorted or disturbed", as to do so would constitute an offence against the electoral law. In this regard, she noted that the police forces have the duty to "prevent criminal offences from being committed" adding that, in the protests and unrest of recent days, police have acted "reasonably, reliably and proportionately."
Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reports that "senior sources" close to the Spanish government say that the Madrid executive is "very worried". Reuters mentions other media reports suggesting the Spanish government may be considering using police to block access to Catalan polling stations in the days before the election.
The Democratic Tsunami announcement which convoked the protest action is bold and clear: "Make them reflect", it says. It proposes that all Catalan cities, towns and neighbourhoods organize their own day of cultural, political and festive activities from 4pm till 10pm on November 9th.
El dia 9N, fem-los reflexionar! 📣
— Tsunami Democràtic (@tsunami_dem) October 31, 2019
Tsunami Democràtic fa una crida a desobeir la Junta Electoral amb una jornada d'activitats culturals, polítiques i festives el dia 9 de novembre. #LaForçaDeLaGent 🌊#SpainSitAndTalk pic.twitter.com/CWrNsrvP0P
In recent days, the Spanish authorities have taken a range of actions to try and impede the Tsunami platform from acting effectively, including persuading Microsoft's GitHub to take down the protest platform's mobile application.