The Government wants to recover "the spirit" of Catalanism from the Transition for Diada

BarcelonaThe Government will travel to the Catalanism of the transition for the Diada. The spokesperson for the executive, Sílvia Paneque, announced this Tuesday that the Generalitat will this year pay tribute to the "spirit" of the commemoration of September 11, 1976 in Sant Boi de Llobregat, when "unity in diversity" reigned and the longing to be "one people". Thus, the Government wants to leave behind the national Diadas of the Procés and, in fact, Paneque lamented that the PSC has found itself "very alone" in the "great house of Catalanism" in recent years.

The spokesperson for the executive assured that today the words of the slogan "liberty, amnesty and Statute of autonomy" still resonate. However, Paneque has downplayed the demands for self-determination of the Assemblea de Catalunya, which convened the demonstration 50 years ago; and pointed out that, despite the "diverse visions" of then, "country objectives" were set that "united and did not divide".

In any case, Paneque denied that this year's Diada is an exercise in "nostalgia", but rather seeks to "be inspired" by the "unity of action" of post-Francoism Catalanism and to make it "dialogue" with the current context, which is "very different". "The Government wants to recover the strength and spirit of that moment [...] to advance the country," insisted the spokesperson, who indicated language as one of the main challenges facing the country.

Towards Extremadura

Illa's executive also wants to send a message of "integration" with the fact that the president, Salvador Illa, celebrates Diada in Extremadura on September 16 and 17. Until now, this act of commemoration in the rest of Spain was held every year in Madrid. The spokesperson for the executive explained that this gesture aims to "highlight" the link of the "Extremaduran population" with Catalonia and the "integration capacity" of the large volume of immigrants from Extremadura who arrived at the end of Francoism. "The identity of the country is a shared project," added the spokesperson for the Government at a press conference.

This year's Diada poster, as explained by the author, Javier Jaén, is also inspired by the messages that Illa's government wants to send. The artist explained that the hundreds of fingerprint prints "dyed with the blood of Guifré el Pilós" want to represent "the origin of the senyera" and symbolize that in the commemoration of September 11 "everyone fits in".

Gold medal for Ferran Adrià and Caterina Biscari

This Tuesday, the recipients of the Generalitat's gold medal were also announced: chef Ferran Adrià, and physicist and director of the ALBA Synchrotron, Caterina Biscari. As Paneque explained, the Government has agreed to award them the "highest distinction" granted by the Catalan administration to "recognize their excellence" and "the fact that they have projected Catalonia in the fields of gastronomy, research, and science internationally." The president will present the awards on September 8th in an institutional ceremony in the Sant Jordi Hall of the Palau de la Generalitat.