With the rallies of Friday night and Saturday in Barcelona's Plaça Sant Jaume, called by different pro-independence groups, we can say that the events to mark the first anniversary of the Catalan independence referendum on October 1st are underway, and will continue over the weekend on a decentralised basis in many municipalities across Catalonia. Many of these events will take place in the same centres that were used as polling stations a year ago. A day that took place in midst of a great civic atmosphere and which the violent police intervention transformed, from a day of peaceful and notably high attendance at the polls to one with more than a thousand people who required medical attention. On Monday, October 1st there will be, among other events, a march from the centre of Barcelona to the Parc de la Ciutadella, seat of the Catalan Parliament. In addition, the Catalan government, with President Quim Torra at its head, will meet in Sant Julià de Ramis, the town near Girona where President Carles Puigdemont was to vote.
Many things have happened since that October 1st, but it is a day that remains vivid in the memory of millions of people and has marked a whole generation of Catalans forever. The triumph of the ballot boxes, the huge voter turnout, the emotions of so many people, represented a severe defeat and an unparalleled humiliation for the Spanish government which had repeatedly proclaimed that the referendum would not be held. The independence movement, which since 2012 has occupied the mainstream of Catalan politics, showed that day that it could surmount obstacles which until then had been considered unattainable. It is normal, then, that with all the nuances and from all the different, plural points of view that exist, there is a desire to remember and celebrate that milestone. And to do so, as always, with the civic spirit in which it has been expressed, even in the most difficult circumstances, and avoiding any provocations.
The fact that a demonstration paying homage to the police officers who acted against the people of Catalonia on October 1st, called by Jusapol, the Spanish police officers' union, was also held in Barcelona this Saturday, is a clear provocation. How can be a street celebration be called for such a massive violation of the rights of the citizens Catalonia, a police action so exaggeratedly disproportionate that it has led to international condemnation? Many legal associations called for the Spanish interior ministry to call off the police demonstration, without success. Given recent incidents in rallies of this nature, the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra police were left with the responsibility of avoiding incidents. Protest on the street is a legitimate right, but the provocation and violence that extremist unionist groups have practiced in recent months should not be part of the Catalan urban landscape.