useless-catalanfacts: November 4th 2019. We have no king, we have no fear!Today is the 21st consecut
useless-catalanfacts:November 4th 2019. We have no king, we have no fear!Today is the 21st consecutive day of protests in Catalonia, which sparked after 9 Catalan political prisoners (activists and democratically-elected politicians) were sentenced to jail, and where people protest against Spain’s repression of Catalan people’s rights and to end the Spanish occupation of Catalonia by declaring Catalonia’s independence. Protestors are asking for Spain to “sit and talk” (literal quote of what the demonstrators chant), meaning to meet with the government of Catalonia, listen to what the citizens say, and negociate. During the protests, the police has brutally attacked protestors and journalists, sending hundreds to be hospitalised, hundreds have been arrested, and tens of protestors more have been jailed.For these 21st days, the protests have not stopped for a second. The highways and railroads around all Catalonia have been cut many days, there was a massive general strike, students have been on strike for a week and will be undefinetly and are camping in the center of Barcelona stopping transit… everything is upside down in protest. And yet, the Spanish government refuses to meet with the Catalan government to “sit and talk”. The president of Spain still refuses to pick up the phone when the president of Catalonia calls.And in the middle of all this, the King of Spain, Philip VI, decides to come to Barcelona (the capital city of Catalonia). The King of Spain, himself a symbol of the Spanish Kingdom’s mistreatment of the nationalities it invaded and the persistence of fascism in the Spanish State (especially after the King’s insulting speech on October 3rd 2017 calling for policial violence on Catalan people).So why did he come? Every year, the king and princess of Spain give the prizes called “Princess of Girona” (one of the titles of the princess of Spain). Girona is a city in Catalonia, and the prizes used to be given there. But for the last 2 years, after his insulting speech and behaviour against Catalans, the city of Girona doesn’t let the king’s event hire any big space to do the event. So this year, they decided to do it in Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital city and where the protests of these last 21 days have been stronger. This has obviously been seen as a provocation.Hundreds of military policemen have been set around the city, treating the unarmed protestors as terrorists. The protestors’ plan was to block the highways to not let him arrive to the place and to beat pots and pans around the luxury hotel he was staying at to not let him sleep all night. Around other cities of Catalonia, citizens have organised to publicly burn down photos of the king together. The police deployment has just been getting bigger and bigger, and all of it payed with our taxes, of course. But the protests achieved their objective of showing the King he is not welcomed in Catalonia and that we refuse to be his subjects, and hopefully to make him think twice the next time he decides to come spend public money on his expesive visits.And anyway, the public seats of the prizes cerimony don’t exactly look full:Photos from El Punt Avui and VilawebDown with monarchy, down with fascism. Long live the Catalan Republic. -- source link
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