Twenty-five years have passed since that fateful date; the scenarios are different, but the perplexity persists and grows. On September 11, 2001, we abruptly discovered two things: that there is no rearguard when fanaticism prevails and that the end of history was merely a mirage built by an enthusiastic idealism. From the images of the destroyed Twin Towers, we have moved to the images of migrants entering Ceuta, driven by planned rumors and great despair. A quarter of a century has passed between the two news events, and we have exchanged the decapitated ingenuities of the end of the Cold War for the saturated incredulities of the new hybrid wars. This August, with our eyes set on the Spanish city in North Africa, we have also discovered two things: borders can be very precarious and a peculiar explosive mix of cynicism, irresponsibility, and fanaticism has colonized politics, especially in the international sphere. When we saw the first plane crash into Manhattan, we thought, during the initial minutes, that all of it was not entirely real but rather a movie; when we saw the flood of people entering Ceuta, we did not doubt the certainty of the event, even though fake and real images are mixed on social media. The world became more insecure in 2001; now it has become more chaotic, indecipherable, and explosive. Beyond the facts, there are the inertias that now dominate the public sphere of developed societies: fear, distrust, unhealthy nostalgia, and disinterest in the truth. And, above all, the rejection of politics, which a part of the citizenry considers “a problem.” In this theater, the predatory leaderships of figures like Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu obtain the admiration and adherence of those who demand “immediate changes” and “effective solutions.” These are leaderships that offer a plausible refuge at a price that many citizens are willing to pay: militarized security in exchange for sidelining rights, freedoms, empathy, and compassion. Behold the banner—hardly original—of those who want to bury the world that emerged in 1945.

We offer you a live graphic follow-up of the National Day of Catalonia, which graphically complements the important live coverage by ARAARA's live coverage. The day starts early in the morning with the traditional floral offerings at the Rafael Casanova monument and commemorations throughout the country. Throughout the day, this gallery will collect the most outstanding moments from the afternoon mobilizations called by pro-independence entities, the institutional acts, and the cultural and musical events that will close the National Day. A living photographic look that will be updated minute by minute from the field by ARA's photographers.

With the motto "I am here. We are here. Independence", this year the citizen mobilization for September 11th will once again be decentralized. It is being convened in three cities: Barcelona, Girona and Amposta, led by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, the Council for the Republic, the AMI, the Intersindical and CIEMEN. This is what is planned for this National Day:

When the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York collapsed onto the asphalt and claimed nearly three thousand lives, a new geopolitical order began to be built. If today we are witnessing a gradual transformation of the world order, which is also disrupting old global structures, that was a clean cut, a turning point for the world that barely lasted two hours. The Bush Doctrine, which was promoted as a response, dealt the first major blow of demolition to international law, in the name of the so-called "war on terror." The strategy devised by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other neoconservative hawks surrounding George W. Bush imposed the concept of preventive war as a blank check for Western powers, basically the United States, to attack other countries unilaterally. A new type of war was then set in motion that was no longer between states but pitted governments against insurgent groups with international tentacles. And the era of surveillance also began, with state control over privacy in the name of national security.

The illusion of a certain order based on democratic expansion in the world ended, most likely, on September 11, 2001. Perhaps it was only an illusion that justified the hyper-leadership of the United States, but the fact is that the instructions for use of international relations began to be torn apart until reaching the chaos of today.

We propose a graphic follow-up of the National Day of Catalonia 2025We begin early this morning with the floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument, attended by authorities and organizations. Throughout the day, we will continue with rallies and other official celebrations. The three demonstrations Simultaneous demonstrations in Barcelona, ​​​​Tortosa and Girona, called by the main pro-independence entities, will be held at 5:14 p.m., followed by the institutional ceremony at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, followed by concerts on Passeig de Lluís Companys.

The celebration of Catalonia's National Day will kick off on September 10th with a new feature: the solemn flag-raising ceremony at the Parliament, presided over by the Speakers of the Parliament and the Generalitat, Josep Rull and Salvador Illa, and the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni. The flag will fly year-round next to the Palau del Parlament. In the afternoon, the ANC (Catalan National Assembly), Òmnium (Union of Catalonia), the Council of the Republic, the Intersindical (Union of Trade Unions), and the Ciemen (Ciemen) will promote the traditional Diada demonstration to denounce, this year, tax plunder, the minoritization of the Catalan language, and the denationalization of Catalonia.

The independence movement is repeating last year's formula, and on September 11th the mobilization for Catalonia's National Day will once again be decentralized. This year there will be demonstrations in Barcelona, Girona, and Tortosa under the slogan More reasons than ever. Independence. This was announced by the organizers of the Barcelona Palace Plan, who hope to present the demonstration with a "social content" and have presented the defense of language and culture as the main reasons for participating. During the presentation, the president of the ANC, Lluís Llach, called for mobilization so that the Diada may be "a clamor that predicts the definitive resumption" of Catalonia's national liberation and "a celebration of reunion to restart the struggle."

On September 11, 2001, a few minutes after both planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, the doors of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) warehouse opened. Several vans emerged. Inside were the PackBots, all-terrain robots designed to help rescue teams find survivors among the rubble. They were still in the development phase, but that day, scientists decided to put them to the test. They were very small and compact, moved at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour, could withstand all types of weather conditions, and were equipped with a radio system, cameras, and sensors to interact with their surroundings. They were crowned by a highly versatile articulated arm that could remove small obstacles, explore narrow spaces, or place objects in hard-to-reach places. Behind the widget was iRobot, the company that, 25 years later, is a successful seller of self-vacuum robots in homes around the world.