For the first time there will be two 8-M demonstrations in Barcelona
The feminist movement breaks unity and there will be two mobilizations in Barcelona for the first time
BarcelonaThis Saturday, the feminist movement is preparing for another major mobilization for Women's Day, March 8. If rain permits, the agenda is full of rallies and demonstrations in cities and towns throughout Catalonia, as well as a labor and care strike called by the CGT union at workplaces. The novelty in Barcelona is that, for the first time, there will be two demonstrations, as has been the case for years in Madrid. This is due to the division of feminism over issues such as the regularization or abolition of prostitution and the rights of trans people. We explain the routes of the mobilizations and review the history of the movement. International Women's Day.
March 8 demonstrations in Barcelona: where and when will they be?
- 8-M Assembly
The demonstration that is expected to have the largest number of people is the one called by the 8-M Assembly, an umbrella organisation that brings together various feminist organisations from all over the country and which this year wants to put care at the centre of the debate. The mobilisation will start at 6pm in the Plaça Universitat in the Catalan capital and will march along Gran Via, Passeig de Gràcia, Ronda de Sant Pere and Passeig de Sant Joan until it ends at the Arc de Triomf, where there will be a stage from which representatives of different associations will read a manifesto.
Care work, both that which is carried out by professionals (in nursing homes or home care) and that which is carried out in the family environment, falls mainly on women. This situation translates into low salaries, precarious working conditions and hours of dedication with little public aid to care for dependent people. That is why the Assembly calls for "co-responsibility" by society in order to have a fair system for caregivers and a dignified one for the people they care for.
- Feminist Coordinator 8-M
The other demonstration is the one called by the 8-M Feminist Coordinator, with Feminists of Catalonia as a major representative, together with unions such as the CNT and the Feminist Party of Spain, among others. The meeting point will be at 6 pm in the central Plaza Catalunya, to continue along Fontanella Street, Via Laietana and Jaume I until ending in Sant Jaume Square, where the manifesto will also be read.
In this case, the slogan is #SomDonesiDiemPROU, which aims to focus on the rejection of the law recognizing and equating the rights of trans women with biological women. On the other hand, this group demands the abolition of prostitution.
- 'All hell is going to break loose'
On the eve of 8-M, the mobilization of The fat lady is going to be in trouble, a non-mixed event, "for women, lesbians and trans people". It is a demonstration that starts when it starts to get dark on Friday 7 March and has the peculiarity that the participants meet in three different places in the city to meet after a walk. From 6.30 pm onwards, a call was made to go to the Lesseps, Joanic and Gal·la Placídia squares.
- Student strike
Due to the calendar, the already traditional strikes called by the student unions have been brought forward one day, to Friday, March 7. The call is from 12 noon in the University of Barcelona square under the slogan We want to be alive.
Why is March 8th International Women's Day?
The current date of Women's Day, March 8, must be sought in revolutionary Russia. Russian women held a series of protest events on the last Sunday of February 1913 of the Julian calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, March 8. The day then became International Women's Day, a date institutionalized in 1975 by the United Nations.
The historical origin of 8-M
The fact that marks The modern celebration of Working Women's Day It dates back to March 25, 1911, when a fire broke out in a textile factory in New York, causing the death of 146 workers. The owners were responsible for this tragedy, as they had sealed the exit doors, a common practice to prevent theft at the beginning of the 20th century.
However, long before that, other demands had already been made that had marked a before and after in the feminist struggle: for example, the suffragette movement, the strike of March 1857, when thousands of textile workers took to the streets of New York under the slogan Bread and roses for protesting against their working conditions or the first International Conference of Socialist Women in Stuttgart in 1907.
An 8-M to discover invisible women
There are many events scheduled for International Working Women's Day, but we want to highlight the activity Little stories, great women, which is being organised by seven Catalan museums coinciding with 8-M. The aim is to give visibility and vindicate the work of women linked to the theme of each of the organising museums through a dramatised storytelling show. It takes place until 23 March and prior reservation is required. For example, tomorrow at 12 noon at the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia we will learn about The Lady of the Mountains, the first Catalan with power in her community, and who lived more than 3,500 years ago. And on Saturday, March 15, at the Museu d'Història de Catalunya, we will be able to learn more about Antonia La Singa, a dancer who was born deaf and who revolutionized the world of flamenco at just 17 years old.