The French flag, which flew alongside the Catalan flag on Castillet, in Perpignan, was removed by Catalan separatists. A group of activists, claiming to be Nosaltres Sols! – a political group dissolved in 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War – posted this action on social networks. It took place on Sunday, the eve of the Diadathe national holiday of Catalonia.
A symbolic monument of the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture, the Castillet was a former city gate, then a state prison, before today housing the Catalan museum of popular arts and traditions.
“Perpignan is a city occupied since the Treaty of the Pyrenees and the battle of symbols is an important part of the struggle to achieve the national liberation of the Catalans,” say the separatists to justify their gesture. The city of Perpignan filed a complaint. Quickly, a new French flag was repositioned alongside the Catalan flag.