"We are a nation and we say enough": when Catalonia stood up in 2007 against the commuter rail system (and against the State)

BarcelonaThe poor functioning of the commuter rail network has been a reality for decades. The Network of Rail User Platforms of Catalonia and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) have called on Catalans to take to the streets this Saturday to protest the state of the network and the neglect of its users in two separate demonstrations. Discontent with the commuter rail system is long-standing, as evidenced by Catalonia's first mass demonstration against the chaos of the rail system in 2007, sparked by the construction of the high-speed rail line (AVE) in Barcelona. According to the Barcelona City Police (Guardia Urbana), 200,000 people participated, while organizers estimated 700,000—figures that would foreshadow the large-scale mobilizations of the Catalan independence movement. The cry in the streets of Barcelona on December 1, 2007, was clear: "We are a nation, and we have had enough." Enough is enough with the infrastructure and rail service deficiencies, but also with the pressing need for self-government, which was already evident in the abridged Statute of Autonomy.

Behind that demonstration was the Platform for the Right to Decide, which had been founded a couple of years earlier. One of its spokespeople, Gerard Fernández, recalls that the demand for a decent transport service served to unite the entire country, from the 200 organizations that joined to the Catalan nationalist political parties (except the PSC). "It was a moment of building strength. We wanted to unite across the political spectrum and say that everything that affects the country should be something we all have to be able to decide," he explained to ARA.

In February 2006, the Platform for the Right to Decide itself had organized a demonstration against the negotiation of the Statute of Autonomy in Madrid, although less crowded, and where clearly pro-independence slogans were already present, slogans that would be repeated in the 2007 demonstration. The Platform's objective was to forge a common national front against a general "problem" with the State and the treatment it afforded Catalonia, Fernández emphasizes. In their manifesto, they demanded the transfer of the commuter rail network and increased investment, but also that fiscal balances be made public and that Catalonia be able to collect all its taxes. These demands, like the one concerning the trains, persist 19 years later.

With the political parties (and without the PSC)

Achieving unity, therefore, was key to success. To this end, the Platform organized several meetings with the mobilization leaders of the political parties at CIEMEN, with Fernández and spokesperson Mònica Sabata. Representatives from Òmnium Cultural, Sovereignty and Progress, and CiU, ERC, and ICV were present. The PSC, which led the second tripartite coalition government with José Montilla as president, distanced itself from the protest due to the difficulty of reconciling it with loyalty to the PSOE in Madrid, despite the rather controversial profile of the then Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez. Then tooÁlvarez asserted that railway investment in Catalonia was higher than ever and that urgent measures would be implemented to try to rectify the situation. Former president Pasqual Maragall (PSC) did attend the demonstration.

However, the demonstration was dominated by civil society, with figures such as historian Manel Cuyás, singer Núria Feliu, writer Vicenç Villatoro, and FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta at the forefront. Political parties remained in the background of the march, which proceeded from Plaça Catalunya station to Plaça França station. Nevertheless, the Platform worked with them to organize the event. David Cid, then an ICV member and now a member of parliament for Comuns, who was present, recalls: "They sought to broaden their base. We tried to center the discussion on a public transport model that prioritized commuter rail, at a time when infrastructure projects like the Fourth Ring Road were underway." This was a point of contention with CiU, which had focused more on the AVE high-speed train and the demand that it not pass through the center of Barcelona, ​​following the collapse of the Carmel tunnel.

On the civil society front, there was also a great deal of "generosity" to ensure the protest's success, emphasizes Jordi Bosch, then head of mobilization for Òmnium Cultural – who is no longer on the organization's board. The "popular outrage" over the service disruptions, particularly affecting the Barcelona-Llobregat-Anoia line, was palpable in an event that, above all, highlighted the feeling of "mistreatment" by the State. This first experience of unified mobilization, he points out, allowed them to begin working together, which facilitated the demonstrations from 2010 – against the ruling on the Statute of Autonomy – onward.

Parallels with 2026?

Can a parallel be drawn between the 2007 demonstration and those of this Saturday? This could be the reset Is the independence movement looking for ways to reactivate its street protests? The sources consulted point to a major difference: the 2007 demonstration was a unified one, while now there are two calls for applications. "I'm disappointed by this," laments Fernández, who believes that the independence movement doesn't want to be "isolated from society"—and that, even so, it will participate in both. The contrast becomes evident when comparing the slogans of the rallies: if the 2007 rally was We are one nation and we say enough is enoughThe one convened by the Network is Without trains there is no future and it's very focused on the specific problems of the service – and behind it there's a movement of users organized by line. The ANC's is Enough! Only way: independenceHowever, there are undeniable similarities between the two contexts: as then, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) governs the Generalitat (Catalan government) while the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) governs in Madrid; the same parties will attend and be absent as before (despite changes in their acronyms), and the network outages have been lasting for weeks. Daniel Cetrà, Professor of Political Science at the University of Barcelona, ​​emphasizes that, from a historical and political perspective, the strength of the sense of "grievance" in 2007 is key: "This is the moment when trust in the State's capacity to provide services breaks down." Then came the economic crisis. All of this created a context in which the independence movement was able to channel a discontent that had two aspects: material and national. This is a trend also observed in Scotland, Flanders, and Corsica, with surges in pro-independence sentiment following crises that reinforce this sense of grievance.

However, there is something that clearly differentiates the 2007 scenario from that of 2026, warns Cetrà, an expert on nationalisms: at that time, the independence movement could present itself as a "renewing" option and defend leaving the State as at least easy, as reality demonstrates more than the crisis (or, October 1st). Now it lacks the capacity to do so. The result is that "it is not clear that it will capitalize" on the discontent, because there is no force offering a clear narrative with the capacity to prevail. "The risk is that all of this will fuel disaffection," he concludes.