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Día Nacional de Cataluña, Diada, 11th September
What is the Diada of September 11th?
In Catalunya this is an official regional holiday or, if the nationalist movement has its way, the National Day of the proposed independent state.
Known as the “Diada”, or festive day, in Catalan, the date is celebrated in commemoration of the end of the War of Succession in Catalunya in 1714, and for many years it has been a day on which active resistance to perceived oppression has been one of the undercurrents underlying the celebrations.
The day was first celebrated in 1886, well over 150 years after the triumph of Felipe V in the Siege of Barcelona, but was outlawed from 1924 to 1929 and later by General Franco’s regime between 1939 and 1980, before being restored in the new age of democracy.
Although the triumph of Felipe’s troops was against Catalan fighters supporting his rival arch-duke Charles of Austria, the struggle was not really between Spaniards and Catalans, but between the two claimants to the throne, and was a conflict in which much of Europe became involved. Charles entered Barcelona in 1705 and was popularly acclaimed, and although modern-day supporters of independence often see him as a kind of early separatist in fact he was an ultra-conservative supporter of the status quo.
One of the icons of the Diada is Rafael Casanova, a local politician who was wounded in the fighting of 1714 while holding the flag of Santa Eulalia, patron saint of the city, but eventually survived until 1743. As part of the celebrations floral wreaths are laid at Casanova’s tomb, and Catalan nationalists pay homage to a statue portraying him which was erected in 1888. Other institutional acts take place in the Parque de la Ciudadela and a human chain is also formed at 17:14pm, another echo of the year 1714.
Whether Casanova really was a separatist hero or was simply forced by popular pressure to wave the flag is a moot point, but he is now one of the central icons of the popular movement for independence which appears to be gaining more and more momentum, and the Diada on 11th September is not only a National Day, but also a nationalist day.
Practical Tip: This is an official holiday, so expect shops to be closed.
Images: Generalitat de Cataluña. Departamento de Presidencía, Diada September 2013