The commuter rail system is not working. The delays of between 20 and 60 minutes recorded on the lines this Saturday, coinciding with the day of demonstrations called in Barcelona, ​​are a prime example. However, after weeks of rail chaos, the expectations generated by the demonstrations have not been fully met. In the morning, the pro-independence demonstration brought together some 8,000 people in the center of Barcelona, ​​according to the Guardia Urbana (Barcelona's municipal police), along a route that made it clear it was not just a protest about the trains (between the Rafael Casanova monument and Plaça Sant Jaume). In the afternoon, the Barcelona police estimated the number of demonstrators, called by commuter rail user groups, at 3,000. Much of the indignation of the users, which is evident day after day in stations across the country, has remained at home. The organizers, who were unable to coordinate a single, unified demonstration, have inflated their figures, estimating 30,000 protesters in the morning and 40,000 in the afternoon. The Catalan government reacted to the mobilizations from Tremp, where the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, guaranteed that they would "take the bull by the horns" and work to "fix once and for all" the commuter rail service in Catalonia. "This isn't about trains, it's about dignity and our future, and that of our nation." The independence movement is looking for opportunities to regain the strength it has been losing since the fall of 2017, and the rail chaos of recent weeks has opened one. The president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Lluís Llach, made no secret of the fact that the commuter rail service "disaster" is merely the tip of the iceberg of a demand that extends far beyond infrastructure. The chants this morning, in fact, were primarily focused on independence and criticism of Spain. Like the 2007 demonstration, this Saturday's protest used rail transport as its central theme, but the core slogan was "independence." The difference compared to 19 years ago was the number of demonstrators: back then, the Barcelona City Police estimated the attendance at 200,000, while the organizers, the Platform for the Right to Decide, put the figure at 700,000. At the end of the march, in front of the Palau de la Generalitat, Llach described Salvador Illa's government as "collaborative" and urged pro-independence parties to overthrow the socialist governments, both in Catalonia and in Spain, to force elections "of a plebiscite nature."

Adrià Ramírez (Taradell, 1987) is the president of Public Transport Promotion (PTP), one of the user associations leading Saturday afternoon's demonstration against the management of the commuter rail service. The PTP, which is not affiliated with any political party, has been acting as a lobbying group for years within the rail sector and the public administration. "I encourage all train users to approach their nearest platform: that's often how things start to move," he says.

Around 2,000 people demonstrated this November 25th in the streets of Barcelona in the two marches called by the feminist movement, which once again revealed its divisions, as had already occurred in the March 8th events. "It's not abuse, it's rape," "Long live the feminist struggle," and "I believe you" were among the most frequently heard slogans during the main march organized by the Feminist November collective. "We only see the tip of the iceberg, the murdered women. But violence is much more widespread, and it's important to support women and help them identify it in order to prevent it," denounced a spokesperson for the organization, lawyer Marisa Fernández, who also criticized the impossibility of fighting against the "machista julianzas" (a derogatory term for women who support women in the Juventud feminist movement) and the prevailing sexism.

Dignity was one of the concepts that appeared most frequently this Saturday at the demonstration by teachers, school staff, and families demanding improvements in the education sector. "You are dignified, you work with dignity," read one of the banners displayed by the approximately 30,000 demonstrators—according to the organizing unions, 8,500 according to the Barcelona City Police—who gathered in Plaça Urquinaona. "Basically, we're demanding a decent wage for all the work we do. We have to deal with bureaucracy, we act as psychologists, nurses; it's not dignified for the children or the families," explained Beatriz, one of the public school teachers who participated in the demonstration. This Saturday's protest was the first unified demonstration organized by unions in this sector since 2022. "You can whistle," a father told his children as the unions' chants and firecrackers echoed as the banners passed by. "A very clear message to Minister Niubó and the Government: today is a turning point; if they don't take action and sit down to negotiate improved working conditions, we will continue to mobilize and will not hesitate to call strikes starting in the second term," stated Iolanda Segura, from the USTEC-STEs union. This message was echoed by the teachers who attended the meeting. Like Joan, a secondary school teacher from Torre Baró, who demanded a "real collective bargaining process" at the Department of Education, and if this doesn't happen, he didn't rule out going on strike this school year. "We feel that our work has neither social nor institutional recognition," the teacher lamented.

All the unions in the sector, associations of families from both public and state-subsidized private schools, and various teachers' platforms have called for a demonstration this Saturday to demand improvements in Catalan education. The mobilization, which for the first time since 2022 – when Josep González-Cambray was Minister of Education under the ERC government – will be a unified one, kicking off at 12 noon in Plaça Urquinaona in Barcelona. Initially, the demonstration was called by the teachers' unions USTEC, ASPEPC, CCOO Ensenyament, CGT Ensenyament, and UGT Ensenyament to demand improvements in the working conditions of teachers. However, other organizations and platforms have ultimately joined the mobilization, each with their own specific demands.

A plainclothes National Police officer working during the mass protest against the Palestinian genocide this Saturday in Barcelona was held hostage by a group of protesters. The incident began when the officer attempted to arrest an activist who was spray-painting the Banco Santander headquarters on Passeig de Gràcia, next to Plaça Catalunya. The officer ended up lying on the ground with facial injuries, and the police force will refer the case to a court.

The second International Women's Day since the pandemic began will focus this year on denouncing how the coronavirus crisis has aggravated job insecurity, violence against women and discrimination against migrant women. The improvement of epidemiological data and the end of restrictions has allowed Catalonia's 8-M Assembly to leave behind the format of static rallies and instead bring back marches through the centre of Barcelona.

The fishing sector is sending out a distress signal. The new European law which imposes a 40% reduction in trawl catches by 2025 has set Catalan and Valencian fleets on the warpath. Fishermen warn that the regulation endangers the continuity of one in two boats, according to calculations by the president of the Catalan federation of guilds, Antoni Abad. "We cannot keep boats that can only go out 120, 150 or 180 days a year, depending on the type of boat. We must to be allowed to work and we must all be allowed to do so equally", claims the fisherman, who also warns that if their demands are not met they will have to organise "more protest actions" because the entire fishing sector "is in danger".