Silvia Orriols will attend the Diada demonstration in Barcelona, despite criticism from the ANC.

BarcelonaSilvia Orriols will be attending the Catalan National Day demonstration in Barcelona. The leader of the Catalan Alliance had not attended since becoming mayor of Ripoll and subsequently being elected to the Parliament. However, this year she has decided to visit the Catalan capital, according to sources within the party confirmed to ARA, although both the ANC and Òmnium, the main organizers of the mobilization, have distanced themselves from the party due to its xenophobic stances.

"We are convinced that the Catalan National Day violates human rights and that this goes against the democratic morality we must follow," stated the president of the Catalan Assembly, Lluís Llach, during the presentation of the events at the Plan de Palau in July. Orriols was quick to react and announced that she now had a reason to be present at the celebration of the Catalan National Day in Barcelona. "I was too lazy to come... but now I will. Even if it's just to call you mediocre and sectarian to your face," he said on his X account. The warning has become a reality, although Llach, in an interview in the ARA, reiterated his words, concluding by stating that Orriols can "perfectly" attend the demonstration, although "she won't be welcome" by everyone.

Since becoming mayor two years ago, Orriols had limited herself to celebrating the Diada in Ripoll, organizing various events in the morning in front of the monastery, but without traveling to Barcelona in the afternoon. This year, the mayor and deputy will once again hold a speech at noon in Ripoll after laying the traditional floral offering at the tomb of Count Guifré el Pilós. with a gloss by Toni Albà, and then will go down to the Catalan capital.

Aliança sources have explained to ARA that "a broad representation of the party, led by Sílvia Orriols," will be at the Barcelona demonstration. The Aliança leader will also be with the party's main leaders at the floral offering at the Fossar de les Moreres this Wednesday afternoon, as she did last year. At that time, around 100 members of the pro-independence left were present. They broke into the Fossar for denouncing the presence of the far right in the most emblematic space of the independence movement. However, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) separated the two groups to avoid a clash between them. This year, with the aim of gathering the maximum number of supporters and activists of the party, Aliança has organized four buses from different parts of the country to accompany Orriols to the Fossar offering, which will take place at 7:00 p.m.

Junqueras will not attend the demonstration

ERC Secretary General Elisenda Alamany has defended the Republican party's participation in the demonstration, even if Silvia Orriols is also attending. "We owe it to all Catalans and we will attend the demonstration like any other Catalan," she stated in statements to the media. On behalf of Esquerra, Alamany herself will attend the Diada demonstration, but party leader Oriol Junqueras will not. Party sources indicate that, on a personal level, the Republican leader prefers not to attend. This decision contrasts with what he himself said at the Catalan Summer University (UCE) when journalists asked him if he would attend the Diada demonstration: "Yes, in fact, we plan not only to be there but to hold a specific event before the demonstration." He was referring, in this case, to the event that the ERC federation in Barcelona organizes every September 11 in the Catalan capital.

Last year, Junqueras did not participate in the demonstration, although he was not the party's president—the party was immersed in the primary process that ended in December—nor was the secretary general, Marta Rovira, who led the party at the time. Alamany will be accompanied by other party leaders, such as the deputy secretary general, Oriol López; the party's spokesperson in Parliament, Ester Capella; and the former speaker of Parliament, Carme Forcadell.

On behalf of Junts, the party's top brass will attend, led by the secretary general, Jordi Turull, as well as the party's spokesperson, Josep Rius; the spokesperson for the Junta group in Congress, Míriam Nogueras; and the president of the group in Parliament, Albert Batet.