Thousands of people defend Catalan and Sant Jordi in the street: "It is not the Book Day"

BarcelonaAn Arab-origin boy approaches a protester and, worried, asks him: "Are you against Saint George?". The protester does not hesitate for a second and responds with a resounding no. The boy, relieved, approves of the answer. This scene took place just as the demonstration in defense of Catalan, organized by Sant Jordi per la Llengua, was leaving Plaça de la Universitat in Barcelona. A protest that shouted that "without language there is no country", but which defended with tooth and nail, even with insults, a Saint George as a Catalan tradition in the face of voices that wanted to turn it into Book Day. "These imbeciles who want to take away even the saint's day of Saint George can go to hell", shouted Lluís Llach, president of the ANC, during the closing of the protest.

The rally, which gathered about 1,400 people according to the Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona, ended in front of the Estació de França, but before that it toured the center of a city full of visitors, bookstalls and roses which, by late afternoon, were already selling for two euros. The call was, for the second consecutive year, "for Sant Jordi, book, rose and protest", and besides Barcelona, other cities such as Girona, Reus, Tortosa, Manresa or Igualada responded, where the same protest was also called with the support of almost 200 entities. Among all the protests, the organization counted 15,000 participants. In Girona there were 300 who toured the city center to Plaça de la Independència.

"Catalan is being revived"

"I argue with everyone who doesn't want to speak in Catalan", comments Pere, 62. A few seconds earlier, the demonstration had been stirred up by a Jimmy Jump who accompanied the protest on a bicycle amidst disqualifications and insults: "Catalufos", he kept saying. "Catalan is reviving, we've realized it was in danger", says Pere, 70, shortly after. "The only way is to always speak it", adds Robert, 50.

The protest has gathered groups of young people and veteran volunteers of the ANC who had to perform acrobatics to avoid stepping on the tide of dazed couples strolling through the city center. Some almost got it right –"Is this the Correllengua?"–, but others were out of place –"Wasn't the Diada demonstration on September 11th?".

The traditional whistles have sounded as the protest passed in front of the National Police Headquarters on Via Laietana and applause has followed during the speeches near Ciutadella Park, with proclamations such as "Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalonia, not Book Day", "Barcelona must stop being a tourist postcard full of expats" or "Culture and language are the backbone of the nation".