Today is a special day for Catalans. We celebrate our National Day of Catalonia, which remembers our final defeat in 1714 against the army of Bourbon king Philip V of Spain in the Spanish Succession war. The end of the war brought the abolition of Catalan rights and institutions, which would not be reinstated and only partially in 1978, long after Franco’s death.
Today is even more special as the Via Catalana, a great human chain of 250 miles will go along the coast of Catalonia to ask for a democratic referendum about the future independence of Catalonia from Spain. Starting from the southern border of Catalonia, going through Barcelona and ending in the border of France, this historical event will reinforce our democratic feelings of freedom and hopefully boost our chances for a democratic resolution.
The op-ed post by Artur Mas in the New York Times summarises the situation pretty well, embodying our wish to vote about our future.
To maintain the spirit in the blogosphere, a virtual blog chain has been organised by Blog-via cap a la independència to support the Via Catalana initiative.
This is blog #292, in between Els petits retalls and Descans: el blog d’un home que descansa.
Happy Diada!