The 2010 Catalan autonomy protest was a demonstration in central

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

on 10 July 2010 against limitations of the autonomy of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, and particularly against a recent decision of the

Spanish Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

to annul or reinterpret several articles of the 2006

Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 ( ca, Estatut d’Autonomia de Catalunya) provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Cataloni ...

. The number of people taking part in the demonstration was estimated at between 1.1 million (according to the local police) and 1.5 million (according to the organisers),. while

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

-based newspaper

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

estimated the number of demonstrators at 425,000. The mobilisation was described as "unprecedented" by the mayor of

. The Barcelona daily newspaper ''

El Periódico de Catalunya ''El Periódico de Catalunya'' (, ), also simply known as ''El Periódico'', is a morning daily newspaper based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The paper publishes separate daily editions in Spanish and in Catalan. The two editions combined sell ...

'' described it as "without a doubt one of the biggest protest marches that has ever occurred in Catalonia, possibly the biggest". It is thought that the 2012 Catalan independence demonstration involved more people, but this protest brought the dispute to light in the world. The demonstration was led by a banner with the slogan in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

''Som una nació. Nosaltres decidim.'' (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, "We are a nation. We decide.").

Background

A new Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia was a key promise by

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

candidate

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

in the run-up to the 2003 Catalan parliamentary election and the

2004 Spanish general election The 2004 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 14 March 2004, to elect the 8th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. The electo ...

s. The new Statute was approved by 91% of the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

, by the ''

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets ...

'' (parliament of Spain), albeit in a curtailed form, and finally by the electors of Catalonia in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on 18 June 2006 (73.24% in favour on a turnout of 48.85%). Almost immediately, the opposition People's Party launched a legal challenge to declare unconstitutional much of the new Statute. The opinion of the judges in the Constitutional Court was divided between "progressives", who felt the Statute was basically in line with Spain's 1978 Constitution, and "conservatives", who felt the Statute gave Catalonia far too much autonomy and so threatened the unity of the Spanish State. The debate went on for four years, with one judge dying in the meantime and four other judges continuing long after their terms of office had theoretically come to an end. A compromise was finally reached on 28 June 2010, and passed by six votes to four. The summary judgment published the same day revealed that the Court had declared parts of 14 out of 277 articles unconstitutional and would submit 27 more to restrictive "interpretation". The full judgment was released on 9 July 2010.

Organisation of the protest

The protest was organised by the prominent Catalan cultural organisation

Òmnium Cultural Òmnium Cultural () is a Catalan association based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture. Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political is ...

with the public support of about 1,600 other organisations, including four out of the six political parties represented in the

(representing more than 85% of votes at the last parliamentary election), the two main

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s (

CCOO The Workers' Commissions ( es, Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General de ...

and

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse ...

(UGT)), the main employers' federation ( Cipec), and

F.C. Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded i ...

. The march had been planned to start at 18:00

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

(16:00 UTC) at the junction between the

Avinguda Diagonal Avinguda Diagonal (, in Spanish Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence the name. It was ori ...

and the Passeig de Gràcia . It was then to have descended the Passeig de Gràcia to its junction with the Gran Via, before turning left and finishing at the Plaça de Tetuan , a distance of about 2 kilometres (1 miles).

Events on the day

Well before 18:00, crowds had started to press down the Passeig de Gràcia from Diagonal, and many people were still moving up from the

Plaça de Catalunya Plaça de Catalunya (, meaning in English language, English "Catalonia Square"; sometimes referred to as Plaza de Cataluña, its Spanish name) is a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the p ...

along both the Passeig de Gràcia and the parallel

Rambla de Catalunya Rambla de Catalunya (; es, Rambla de Cataluña) is a major street in the ''Eixample'' district of central Barcelona. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees. The street st ...

. The official "front" of the march, with its 25 by 10 metre ''

Senyera The Senyera (; meaning "pennon", "standard", "banner", "ensign", or, more generically, "flag" in Catalan) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yellow field. This ...

'' (flag of Catalonia), eventually managed to form at the junction of the Passeig de Gràcia with

Carrer d'Aragó Carrer may refer to: People with the surname: *Gustavo Carrer (1885-1968), Italian athlete in football *Pavlos Carrer (1829-1896) Greek music composer In street names; *In Barcelona, Spain: **Carrer d'Aragó **Carrer d'Ausiàs Marc, Barcelona **C ...

, and started moving at around 18:20, albeit moving ''through'' dense crowds. By 19:30, it had only reached the Gran Via , a distance of about 400 metres. The organisers decided to perform the closing act – the singing of ''

Els Segadors "Els Segadors" (, ; "The Reapers") is the official national anthem of Catalonia, Nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. History The original song dates in the oral t ...

'' (the Catalan anthem) and the reading of a short manifesto – in a packed Plaça de Tetuan despite the absence of the official "head" of the march, and the demonstration started to disperse at around 20:00. Smaller parallel demonstrations by Catalan nationals living abroad also took place in London, Berlin, Brussels and other places.

Following years

The protest was followed in the succeeding years by the 2012 Catalan independence demonstration, the Catalan Way (2013), the Catalan Way 2014, the Free Way to the Catalan Republic (2015) and Go ahead, Catalan Republic (2016).

References

External links