Thousands of people demonstrate in Barcelona against the chaos on the commuter rail network

BarcelonaThe 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."

"We have a bad government that only offers us decline as a nation and society. Enough of the complicity it finds! The Isla government must fall for being collaborationist and deceitful," exclaimed Llach, who, like Jordi Domingo, president of the other organizing body (the Council of the Republic), had done earlier, emphasized the role of society. "We must frighten the government in Madrid and the traitorous government of Catalonia," declared the leader of the ANC, who called for "reviving citizen mobilization." As in 2007, the organizers stressed that the fiscal deficit—which they estimate at more than 25 billion euros annually—is where the structural problem lies, not only for the commuter rail system but also "for healthcare, housing, the economy, the agricultural sector, fishing, public services..." Along with the organizing entities, representatives of the pro-independence parties (Junts, ERC and the CUP) and also of Òmnium Cultural have also demonstrated, and they repeated their presence at the afternoon demonstration.

Adif and Renfe singled out

It was Junts, in particular, that mobilized its leadership both in the morning and afternoon – Secretary General Jordi Turull attended both – while ERC focused especially on the afternoon demonstration, where its president, Oriol Junqueras, participated. This second demonstration began at França Station and also ended in Plaça Sant Jaume. The majority of the demonstrators joined the march late, so the start of the event was rather lackluster. Around twenty political, labor, social, and citizen organizations joined the march, convened by commuter rail user platforms under the slogan "No trains, no future." The organizers pointed to "Adif, Renfe, and the respective governments as responsible" for the structural disinvestment in the service and insisted that they cannot hide behind the excuse of climate change. Although pro-independence slogans were also heard, it was clear that the afternoon mobilization had different objectives than the morning's.

Among those present were commuters fed up with the trains and "supportive and conscientious" citizens who indicated that the service's poor performance "affects their daily lives." Carme, a retired woman from Barcelona, ​​illustrated this point, saying that since the chaos of recent weeks she hasn't been able to visit her children and grandchildren in the Maresme region: "They tell me not to even think about getting on the train, that they'll have to come and rescue me."

The indignation and anger that is felt every day in the stations and on the trains was evident in the protesters' banners and also in the final manifesto that was read. The chaos of the service "is not bad luck, it's structural violence," stressed Anna Gómez, spokesperson for Dignity on the Tracks, who also emphasized the impact of so much mismanagement on people's emotional well-being. For his part, Adrià Ramírez, president of the Association for the Promotion of Public Transport (PTP), urged commuters to organize themselves to exert pressure. In this respect, he has called for "radical changes" to end centralized train management and to prioritize commuter rail lines in public transport investments.