It was called the National Conference of the Civil Independence Movement, and it culminated in Barcelona on Sunday morning with a look towards the future. After a long day on Saturday - eleven hours with very few breaks - the protagonists explained the key ideas that had emerged. The conference, called by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), brought together a total of 57 pro-independence bodies - represented by about 500 people - who assume the need for a unilateral path towards Catalan independence and, over the course of an arduous Saturday, defined the necessary actions that the civil movement and institutions must carry out to reach the goal. Three speakers summarised the main contributions the came out of the presentations, articulated around the civil, institutional and international fronts, before an audience of a hundred people. Over the next few weeks, the final conclusions will be articulated in order for them to be presented in the form of a National Pact.
First it was the turn of Anthony Corey Sànchez, national secretary of the ANC, who addressed the civil front centred on sustained mobilization and civil disobedience, the renewal of ideological discourse, and the necessary control of the "country tools". The main idea he took from Saturday's debate was the obligation of the independence movement to recover its mobilizations in order to force the "bankruptcy" of the Spanish state, gain control of the Catalan territory and make effective the declaration of independence "To face the Spanish and autonomist governments, we need to recover the combative spirit of the CDRs," he said. "They are the example of the liberation movement that must lead this second and final process." Civil strengthening must also happen so that independence gains space in the country's chambers of commerce, universities, unions and town halls, among other bodies. It is precisely the local administrations, he explained, that can strengthen their role by presenting a federation of municipalities that gives them prominence and allows them to "proclaim independence from the towns".
Next, and in relation to the institutional front, the leader of the ANC Uriel Bertran addressed the debate on the economic aspects of the transition towards independence, the institutional political impulse, and new forms of institutionalization. On the first point, he explained that it is necessary to work to reduce the costs of this transition, and doing so depends on the ability that the movement has to strengthen the Catalan tax agency before proclaiming independence, the need to achieve energy self-sufficiency, and to think about how the movement can be financially financed through external sources and by internationalizing the Catalan economy.
The debate on the non-party electoral list
His intervention also mentioned the internal debate generated over the possibility of a non-party pro-independence electoral list on Saturday. Uriel Bertran defending this proposal, as he has done in the past: "The parties have failed", he said, which is why he claimed the need to create a independence movement instrument to overcome the repression. "This is why the non-party list is proposed, with the intention of bringing together the pro-independence vote and making the declaration of independence effective." As he explained, the ANC would lead this electoral initiative and seek "consensus" with other entities that propose a similar idea, always with the desire to bring the movement together and not fragment it, and taking into account the "dangers" that could the experiment could raise. On the other hand, the national secretary referred to the debate that the list proposal sparked in the ANC, with some scenes of "tension". "Not everything is support, there are also other proposals that go further or that are different", he acknowledged. Among the alternative approaches, the idea for a list of commitments that must be fulfilled by the parties, the threat of a blank or null vote, and the inclusion of the parties themselves in this unitary list.
On the international front, the national secretary of the ANC, Olga González, spoke, calling for "the language of states" to be spoken. Thus, she recalled that countries are driven by interests, and that identifying those interests is key to achieving recognition when it comes to being independent. "And there is no need to take a Eurocentric approach, we need alliances at global level", she stressed, turning her gaze away from the European Union. On the other hand, she opted to study other independence movements such as the Scottish one, as well as acting with a "state mentality". One of her most notable contributions was the call to "provoke high-intensity repression by the Spanish state" as a tool to make the international community react.
Dolors Feliu and "fertile ground"
The president of the ANC, Dolors Feliu, offered the closing speech with words that sought to be transversal and unitary, taking into account the amalgamation of entities present. She applauded the results of the National Conference and highlighted it as common "fertile ground" on the road to independence. "We have different points of view, but when we put them together we make a multiplier of the movement", she celebrated. The debate brought out ideas that were "worked hard" by all those involved with the intention of starting the new "cycle" of independence in its attack on the state. And this will only be possible with the alliance of the civil movement. "We know where we are, more than ever, and we recognize one another in the objective of independence," he said. "Networking must be the key to uniting us."
Feliu explained how the ANC will now collect the ideas to end up drafting the final conclusions that will be shared with all the actors. "We will continue this debate, which will serve to enrich the internal debate itself", she explained, guaranteeing that the entity will also take the ideas into account when drawing up its next roadmap. "From now on, we will analyze the ideas that have arisen so that we can come up with a work of synthesis where all those who have participated can agree and feel comfortable," he said. Amidst the noise of the last few weeks, the ANC has again been able to assert itself as a key player on the road to independence.