The pro-independence organisations ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and Òmnium Cultural have called on the Catalan public to take part in the 'general standstill' this 8th November. They've called two main waves of mobilisations, local and decentralised, to represent their rejection of the imprisonment of over half the Catalan government and their own presidents, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart and the intervention in Catalan autonomy. One of the groups of actions is at midday, the other in the early evening.
What is organised?
At 12pm, there will be a gathering in Barcelona's plaça Sant Jaume, in front of the Catalan government palace, with simultaneous events in front of all the government's delegations in different cities around Catalonia, one in each vegueria (an old administrative division between the counties and the country): Girona (Comarques Gironines), Lleida (Ponent), Tarragona (Camp de Tarragona), Tortosa (Terres de l'Ebre), Manresa (Catalunya Central) and Tremp (Alt Pirineu i Aran).
At 6pm, there will be demonstrations in the capital of every comarca (county), in front of the town halls. In the case of Barcelona, it won't be in front of the town hall, but in the nearby plaça de la Catedral, in front of the cathedral.
What's called for?
The call is to take part in the events and to "bring the country to a standstill" in the face of the actions of a "corrupt" government "which hates freedom" and with one eye on the elections coming up on 21st December.
The entities denounce the intervention in Catalan autonomy by the central government and the imprisonment of over half the Catalan ministers, as well as demanding unity towards the election. The standstill comes the day after the deadline for registering coalition, with low expectations for a joint list of all pro-independence parties.
How to get there
In the case of the mobilisations in Barcelona, there are several options to arrive to the demonstration locations in the centre of the Catalan capital. By train, catch Rodalies lines R1, R3 or R4 to Plaça Catalunya or FGC, whose Barcelona-Vallès lines all go to Plaça Catalunya.
By bus, routes V15, V17, 120 and 45 all go along Via Laietana, whilst V13, 91 and 59 go along the Rambla, streets almost parallel either side of the rallies. As for metro, the best options are the stations Jaume I (L4, yellow) and Plaça Catalunya (L1, red; L3, green)