Salvador Illa signs up for the "unity" of 1976 against the far right

BarcelonaThe President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, sees a great parallel between the first authorized demonstration for the National Day after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, in 1976, and that of Friday: the fight against authoritarianism. For this reason, the socialist leader now urges "democratic Catalanism" to recover the "lesson" of the protest from 50 years ago and emulate the "unity" and "consensus" that reigned back then against Francoism to curb the rise of the far right.

In an act, like in 1976, in Sant Boi de Llobregat, the head of the executive branch remarked that the protagonists of the demonstration half a century ago did not have an "easy path", and called for inspiration from their "spirit" and to "roll up their sleeves" to "preserve" Catalan and democratic institutions. "We must fight to maintain them," insisted Illa.

The President of the Generalitat also defended an "inclusive" Catalonia and recalled that in the protest fifty years ago there were above all senyeres, but also Extremaduran, Galician, and Basque flags. "The freedom that was demanded in Sant Boi was not for a few, it was for everyone who dreamed, lived, and worked in this land, wherever they came from," added the socialist leader, who will travel to Extremadura next week to celebrate the National Day there again.

The event was also attended by various authorities, such as the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull; the mayor of Sant Boi, Lluïsa Moret, and a good number of ministers, as well as former president José Montilla and one of the fathers of the Constitution, Miquel Roca, who spoke at the 1976 demonstration. The presenters of the event were the journalists Manuel Campo Vidal and Àngels Barceló.