Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Barcelona for an independent Catalonia. Since the Spanish general election, particular attention has been paid to the separatist parties. They could tip the scales.
Tens of thousands of people in Catalonia called for the independence of the region in northeastern Spain on the occasion of the “Diada” national holiday. After a march, demonstrators gathered in the Plaça d’Espanya in the center of Barcelona, as a reporter from the dpa news agency reported. There they shouted slogans like “Independence, Freedom.”
Information about the number of participants varies widely: While the organizers, the ANC civil movement, spoke of around 800,000 participants in the evening, the police assumed there were around 115,000 demonstrators in the early evening. The “Diada” commemorates the loss of self-government in 1714.
Catalans hope for more influence
Catalan regional government leader Pere Aragonès said shortly before the rally that the opportunity presented by the sudden importance of the Catalan parties in forming a new Spanish government should not be missed.
This year the demonstration was followed with particular attention across Spain, as Catalonia’s separatist parties play a major role as possible “kingmakers” in Spanish politics.
Will separatists decide who governs Spain?
The two Catalan separatist parties in the Madrid parliament will decide in the next few weeks whether the acting head of government, Pedro Sánchez, can continue to govern or whether there will have to be a new election. Because without the votes of the Catalans, Sánchez’s Socialists (PSOE) would not have a majority.
First, however, opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo from the conservative People’s Party (PP), who received the most votes in the election on July 23rd, has until September 27th to forge a government alliance. However, he is only given slim chances. Sánchez could then negotiate with the left-wing nationalist ERC of Aragonès and, above all, with the Junts party of the Belgium-based separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. The Junts, who are less willing to compromise, have so far called for, among other things, an independence referendum, which is considered unacceptable in Spain.