Liz writes, "This Sept 11 is the 300th anniversary of the loss of Catalonia's sovereignty to Spain. Catalans will commemorate the date by holding a massive demonstration — perhaps Europe's largest ever– on two major Barcelona boulevards, creating a huge letter V for Vote with upwards of 1.5 million expected participants."
"Polls say more than 80% of the population is in favor of holding a legal referendum on independence from Spain and close to 60% are in favor of regaining their sovereignty. However, Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy says no: 'We have everything ready to keep the vote from happening'. But what does it matter to the rest of us?
Catalonia's independence movement is ground up, it's truly grassroots. On Thursday, 7000 volunteers will mobilize close to two million people to form a huge Catalan flag in the shape of a letter V on two major streets in Barcelona. V for Vote, for Victory, and for Voluntat (Will). Many of the volunteers have been working for independence since the first straw polls for independence took place in the tiny town of Arenys de Munt in the fall of 2009. I met a woman the other day who has been handing out flyers every single Sunday since early 2010 in front of Gaudí's spectacular Sagrada Família because she is determined to take full advantage of this opportunity this time.
In 2013, thousands of Catalan National Assembly (ANC) volunteers, inspired by 1987's Baltic Way got 1.6 million people to hold hands from one end of the country to the other — an expanse of 250 miles — a logistic miracle!
Catalans use Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook to share information, coordinate hashtags ahead of time, set meeting times, and just to stay in touch. They want to do something truly revolutionary: redraw political borders peacefully, without war.
5 Reasons Catalonia Should be on your Radar [Liz Castro/Medium]
(Thanks, Liz!)
