Today's celebration of Spain's National Day offered the unionist movement in Catalonia the hope of repeating the size of last Sunday's large demonstration. As it turned out, the attendance was much more modest. Crowds gathered in Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, and marched down to the central square of Plaça Catalunya, where speeches were given. City police estimated the numbers at 65,000, but this may have been a generous estimate, as the crowd was scattered over a large area. The organization did not control the event very closely. Several unionist groups concentrated at points on the Passeig de Gràcia, while several incidents occurred at Plaça Catalunya, including clashes with city police. There were also threats made to journalists. There was a distinct absence of marshals to keep order amongst the marchers.
Tens of thousands
At the time the event was due to begin only a few thousand people had gathered at the Passeig de Gràcia starting point. The official banner that was planned to head the protest ended up being engulfed, from in front and from behind, by other banners. A series of white-background flags combining the flags of Europe, Catalonia and Spain were left isolated in the central part of the demonstration. The unappealing organization of the march seemed to be borne out as many of the marchers left the gathering as soon as they arrived at Plaça Catalunya. Very few stayed to listen to the official speeches.
Few Catalan flags
Even though the organization had called on people to bring both Spanish and Catalan flags, the vast majority seen were Spanish. In addition to the official Spanish ensigns with the constitutional emblem, there was a varied assortment of Spanish flags on display, and a few that combined Spanish and Catalan designs. Banners were conspicuous by their absence, and there were very few that had been made at home. Among the slogans seen was the surprising line "Nationalisms, no".
From defending unity to defending repression
Although many of the chants heard were simply a defence of Spanish unity, such as "They don't fool us, Catalonia is Spain" or "I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish," there were also slogans that went far beyond this and celebrated the repression against the independence movement: "Put Puigdemont in prison", and "Long live the Civil Guard", among others.
Extremists
Although the majority of the marchers did not bear extremist insignia or participate in ultra-right chants, the presence of supporters of the extreme right seemed completely acceptable in the march. There were protesters clad in items of military uniform: caps of the Spanish Legion, Civil Guard T-shirts, and Spanish Navy flags. There were flags with a variety of historical right-wing symbols. And there were some banners that were openly extremist, such as "Spain does not surrender" from the Madrid-based fascist group Hogar Social, or another with Nazi symbols which read "Don't stop until you conquer". There was also a small but vocal presence of the extremist Somatemps group as well as the right-wing Plataform per Catalunya. Some of those present chorused the chant that was popularized in the 1970s against the creation of a more decentralised Spain: "Spain one, not fifty-one". Neither the protest marshalls nor the marchers themselves showed negative reactions or took any action against the presence of these groups, which was taken as a normal occurrence, even though at the end of the macrh the organizers said they distanced themselves from the presence of "non-constitutional symbols".
Tension with the Mossos
"This police force does not represent us" and "Where were you on October 1st?", shouted unionist demonstrators to the members of the Catalan police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, who they encountered on the route. Some added "Trapero, you will go to prison", referring to the head of the Mossos - prompting marshals to intervene. However, while some insulted the Catalan police, others gave them hugs, saying that they were victims of bad leadership.
The speeches
There was not a lot of interest from the marchers in the speeches at the end of the protest. A good part of the crowd had left - some due to lack of interest, while a few extremists had clear intentions to create incidents (there was a small clash with Barcelona city police near Carrer de Bergara). Those who spoke praised the "silence majority" that "had lost its fear", and they even celebrated the independence process for having brought the support for Spanish nationalism out into the open: "Every cloud has a silver lining". In the speeches, criticism was made of "incitements to hatred" made by the "separatist associations", ironic comments that Catalan president Puigdemont had been "shaking with nervousness" in his address last Tuesday. "History will judge him," it was said, "and the verdict will not be good", while "prison sentences" were also demanded, "for seditious rebellion". But in spite of everything, the Spaniards and Catalans who spoke said there was a promise of dialogue if the Catalan president "comes back to the path of the Spanish Constitution" by the deadline of next Monday. There were also references to the "achievement" of Columbus's "discovery" of America. The most histrionic and best received address was that of Josep Bou, of the Catalan Employers Association, who assured that "We Catalans are the children of the best place in the world, bearing the Catalan flag and being able to proudly say that we belong to the most beautiful land on the planet, Spain". After assuring very seriously that "nowhere in the world do people eat as well as in Spain", he added that "Spain is the best country to be born in". The speeches ended with cries of "Love live Catalonia!", "Long live Spain!", and "Long live the King!".