La Diada Nacional

One of the things I like best about long-term stays when we travel is that we have enough time to do the touristy things as well as some of the not-so-touristy things.  Today happens to be the Diada Nacional, Catalonia's National Day, where they commemorate their history and heritage in a number of ways.  I won't go too deep into the history, but 300 years ago Catalonia backed the wrong candidate during the War of Spanish Succession.  On September 11, 1714 the city of Barcelona surrendered after a long siege and final battle.  The victor, King Phillip V of Spain, displaced a large portion of the city's inhabitants to build a fortress to keep them in line, and took away many of the longstanding rights and freedoms of the region.  Later rulers and administrations (especially Franco) continued to enforce Spanish (Castillian) as the primary language instead of Catalan, and abolished many Catalan institutions.  Since Franco's death in 1975, Catalonia has reacquired some of its autonomy.  There is now a strong nationalist sentiment in the region, and many Catalans would like to separate from Spain and become their own country. 

Catalan flag projection on the Palau de la Generalitat

As part of the Diada Nacional, last night there several commemorative events scheduled.  However since we knew the speeches would be in Catalan, we opted to try to have a look at some of the music-based events instead.  As part of the Nit Blanca, various artists, singers, and dance troupes performed in various placas around town.  We saw some 18th-century dancers and heard some a capella vocal music. Our favorite act of the night were a pair of aerial dancers doing a choreographed routine while suspended from the top of a building.  They were very good and drew a large crowd.

Sacude aerial dancers

This morning at 8am there was a concert to commemorate the death 300 years ago of one of the city's heroes in the battle that ended the siege.  Although normally that is pretty early for this city (did I mention that people don't start to eat dinner until 10pm?), there was still a huge audience.  Three hundred cellos played a short piece and although the crowd was large everyone was absolutely silent during the performance.  We got there too late to get close and take video, but if you click this link you will find a video of the performance.  And who knows -- you may even be able to spot Kevin and me in the crowd (I haven't had a chance to watch it all the way through yet so let me know!).

300 Cellos perform "Ara Mateix" (Right Now) by Albert Guinovart/Martí i Pol

The whole city was awash in Catalan colors (red and yellow).  Even the bakeries got into the act.  I imagine that these cakes taste like freedom.

In the afternoon, we had lunch on Rambla Catalunya so that we could people watch.  The main demonstration didn't take place until 5:14pm (17:14 on the 24 hour clock) so most of the demonstrators just strolled around the city or had lunch while waiting for things to kick off.

It was definitely peaceful, there were families with small kids, and everyone was just out enjoying the day.  This was the scene in Placa Catalunya.  The news reported that buses brought in nearly 1,800,000 people to the city.

Finally at 17:14, the demonstration commenced.  Demonstrators formed an enormous "V" encouraging all Catalans to vote in the upcoming independence referendum in November.  It will be interesting to see what happens then, but it was quite an experience to be here for this event!

Photo credit: BCN Ajuntament twitter page