Pro-independence organisation ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and Òmnium are planning a demonstration in Brussels for 7th December to demonstrate the pro-European nature of the Catalan people and to call on the European institutions to become involved in the conflict. That was the statement this Thursday from the accidental leaders of the two organisations, Agustí Alcoberro and Marcel Mauri, during the announcement of the logistical details of the demonstration. They hope that the Belgian capital will be packed for the event. "Brussels will overflow with people who want to defend democracy and rights," said Mauri. The day's motto will be "Europe, wake up! Help Catalonia".
The protest route is still being negotiated with Belgian authorities, but will be in the centre of the city and will go through the European quarter. The event will end with a political ceremony split into three parts: the bloc of European politicians and MEPs who have become involved, the bloc of human rights involving subject expert, and the bloc of Catalan politicians, with it still unconfirmed exactly who this will include. The event will conclude with speeches from the imprisoned leaders of ANC and Òmnium.
Alcoberro said that commercial flights to Brussels are already "packed" and that there are problems finding hotels in the city. The organisations know of people looking for accommodation "40 to 50 kilometres away" (25 to 30 miles) and planning to get there by plane via Paris, Amsterdam and "cities even further away". ANC and Òmnium have already organised five charter flights: three from Barcelona-El Prat airport, one from Girona-Costa Brava and one from Lleida-Alguaire. Buses will leave from at least 70 places around the country. Some of these places will dispatch several, like Mataró, which already has five confirmed.
Alcoberro didn't want to predict turnout, but noted two previous demonstrations in Brussels: in 2001, 15,000 people protested against the diversion of the river Ebre and in 2009 some 10,000. "They will be widely surpassed", said the ANC's leader, convinced that it will be one of the largest the city has seen in recent years.
The EU "hasn't measured up"
The intention is to "go to the heart of Europe to tell them to wake up, to pay more attention to what is happening in Catalonia", said Mauri. Òmnium's spokesperson added that they also want to "say to the European institutions that this time they've not measured up". They will argue that "fundamental values" of the EU are at risk in Catalonia, in Spain and around the continent.
"We're also going to say that it's not an internal matter, but that since 1st October [and the independence referendum] it's a topic that has also outraged a large part of European public opinion, which was scandalised by the images of that day," said Mauri. "This is unacceptable, and this is what we're going to explain peacefully and civilly, but also with all strength: democracy is at risk in Catalonia, the Spanish state and the European Union."