Puigdemont defends the "O1 formula" on the anniversary of the referendum: "It's the formula for victory."

BarcelonaFrom Cornellà del Terri, where former president Carles Puigdemont voted on 1-O, Junts held its event this Tuesday night to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the October 1 referendum. Under the slogan "Committed to 1-O," the Junts members demanded "the validity of the referendum mandate" after the independence movement lost its majority in the Catalan Parliament and have called for "finishing the job." To this end, Puigdemont called for "protection" of the formula that made 1-O possible and claimed three "ingredients" that, in his opinion, made it possible: unity, transversality—without considering "what those on our side think, what their origins are, or what religion they profess"—and a vision for the future. A message that Puigdemont repeated this Wednesday in a message on X: "It is imperative that we preserve the formula of October 1, because it is the one that leads to victory." Puigdemont defended October 1st as a "historical heritage" and the "foundation stone for building a future of freedom."

For his part, Jordi Turull warned: "We're not mistaken about our adversaries. A separatist, no matter how different his or her opinions, is never, never, never our adversary." Turull insisted that this "adversary" is Spain, and in a recorded speech, Puigdemont accused Spain of "vetoing" Catalan institutions from fulfilling "many of the desires of the people of Catalonia," including those related to housing and salaries. This veto, according to the former president, is "not only because of the money it takes each year, but because it doesn't give us political power."

The event was opened by the mayor of the municipality, Salvador Coll, who began by recalling the "democratic lesson to the world" that the 1-O vote provided and the repression of Mariano Rajoy's government, which was "like the commuter train" because it was always "late." However, he quickly noted that the referendum "should not be a postcard," but rather an "example" to follow in order to "transform disenchantment into strength." Specifically, regarding this disenchantment, Coll warned that it leads to "seeking refuge in projects that promise instant miracles," and concluded by recalling that "no nation has been built on anger and withdrawal."

The event also featured a roundtable discussion between Marta Madrenas, former mayor of Girona; Pep Coma, mayor of Molló; Natàlia Figueras, mayor of Maçanet de la Selva; and Guillem Puig, a member of the polling station where Puigdemont voted. During the discussion, they recalled that "deeply emotional" day and the nerves of not knowing what would happen "until the moment we opened the door" to the polling station. The conversation ended with Madrenas's wish: "If we did it once, we can do it again. Now, this time it would be ideal to finish it well."

ERC and the CUP also support the 1-O referendum.

Aside from Junts, this Wednesday, ERC and the CUP also defended the referendum from eight years ago. The leader of the Republicans, Oriol Junqueras, recalled the October 1st referendum from eight years ago and, in a message to X, pointed out that "today there are still victims of reprisals, open cases, and impunity." "The dignity of the country demands memory and justice," he concluded.

For his part, CUP MP Xavier Pellicer defended October 1st as a "victory": "It shook a state as powerful as Spain." He said this in an interview on RTVE, where he also ruled out a broad left-wing front, arguing that the sum of electoral votes "is useless."

But where unity among the independence movement, between Junts and ERC, has been seen, it has been at the table in Parliament. The pro-independence members of the table, led by the speaker of the chamber, Josep Rull, issued a joint declaration on October 1st to commemorate the 2017 referendum. "It proves that hope is always more powerful than fear," Rull asserted from the hearing room. Rull emphasized that October 1st was "already part of the collective imagination" and lamented the repression. For this reason, he denounced the judiciary's "rebellion" for not granting amnesty to leaders of the Proceso party whose cases remain open and denounced its "democratic anomaly." He also said that the State "champions the cause of freedom beyond its borders," but not in the Principality.