Catalan parties, civic groups underscore “plural, broad-based” rejection of TC injunctions

BarcelonaLast Friday the political parties and grassroots groups behind Sunday’s Barcelona rally made one last appeal for everyone to take a stand against the suspension of Catalonia’s social laws by Spain’s Constitutional Court (TC). They emphasised that it will be a “plural, broad-based” event that will bring together everyone who feels the need to face up to the Court. This was shown by means of a visual performance outside Barcelona’s MACBA, where representatives of the various groups brought down a wall made of boxes which contained the ills that they wish to get rid of and turn into positive proposals for Catalonia.

The event was led by Oriol Recasens, the chairman of Catalonia’s National Youth Council, who emphasised that “the court’s injunctions on our rights have elicited a full-on rejection by social and political groups in Catalonia, across the board”. To illustrate this, representatives of SOS Racisme ANC, Òmnium, CIEMEN, Marea Blanca, Intersindical-CSC, the Federació de Municipis de Catalunya, Associació Catalana de Municipis, Associació de Municipis per la Independència, CDC, ERC, EUiA, ICV, En Comú Podem, the CUP and Demòcrates de Catalunya —the PSC also supports the rally, but missed the presentation— knocked down a wall made up of boxes that alluded to energy poverty, privatisation of health care, the salary gap, the gag law, the Wert law, unemployment, budget cuts, emigration of the young, dependence, discrimination and evictions, among other issues. The political leaders in attendance were Santiago Vidal and Eduard López (ERC), Sílvia Requena (CDC), Marta Ribas (ICV) and Joan Mena (EUiA).

Suday’s march was called as a reaction to the Constitutional Court’s suspension of Catalan legislation such as the gender equality law and the housing emergency act. Jordi Giró, the president of Catalonia’s Confederation of Local Communities, the rally aims to support “the social Catalonia that we wish to build from our neighbourhoods”. Camil Ros, the Secretary General of UGT in Catalonia (a large trade union) claimed that the suspended legislation “is legitimate” and emphasised that “the last time so many parties and groups came together was many years ago”, which is “a reflection of the plural country that we want”.

Likewise, Òmnium’s president Jordi Cuixart insisted that “social issues are the most important kind of national issues” because “social cohesion is one of Catalonia’s main strongholds” and he added that “this is not about flags”. Carme Martínez, CCOO’s coordinator of institutional relations in Catalonia, remarked that “clear instruments are needed to fight labour and social poverty, while Diosdado Toledano (a spokesman for a group that lobbies for a minimum income law) lamented that “the Constitutional Court had the chance to send a compromising message to Catalonia” but it didn’t, which is why it is necessary to “support Catalonia’s rights and sovereignty”.

In addition to these five speakers, CDC’s Sílvia Requena reminded those present that “there would have been no injunctions if nobody had filed a complaint. There is a clear instigator behind the appeals: the PP government in Madrid, even if it is a caretaker cabinet”, she complained. Sílvia Requena recently ran in the CDC primaries to be the party’s candidate in the June elections, but lost to Quico Homs.