The organisation is ready, it has been going on for months already and the accumulated experience from the previous rounds has been a key factor for the success of this round. On sunday, the popular referendum for the independence of Catalonia, one of the most important events of this generation of Catalans, will take place in Barcelona. It all started in Arenys de Munt and now has spread, through successive rounds to 532 towns and villages in Catalonia involving more than 60000 volunteers. (Check out previous rounds here, here, here and here)

More than 10% of early votes have already been collected this time, which several hundred volunteers have organised. Several politicians, amongst others, former Catalan president Pujol and current president Mas have given their support and voted already for the independence of Catalonia. (If when I started this blog somebody had told me in 2011 I would be writing that last sentence I wouldn’t have believed them.)

The next step, according to the referendum organisers, should be for the Catalan Parliament to organise a full scale official referendum of independence with the proper resources and then in case of an affirmative result act accordingly and start the steps for the international recognition of Catalonia’s independence.

Since luckily I happen to be in Barcelona at the moment I am currently giving the local organisers in Sants, my area, a hand and I’ll be reporting live on sunday from this blog and on twitter from the local headquarters about what goes on. Keep checking this blog for updates.

Next week, on April the 13th, it will get interesting since a law proposal made by SI for a unilateral declaration of independence will be voted in the Catalan Parliament. The law will very likely not get through but the debate, especially the arguments of those who will vote against it or abstain, will be very interesting since most groups practice a calculated ambiguity in this matter and the voters have the right to know who is defending their rights.

I’ll leave you with a video advertisement for the Barcelona referendum with english subtitles:

Don’t Vote (No votis) – Catalan with English subs from Belisarius on Vimeo.

Former Catalan President Jordi Pujol has declared on the radio that he has already voted “Yes” by advance poll in the upcoming popular referendum for independence that will take place on April the 10th in Barcelona.

Jordi Pujol was the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya for more than two decades and his policies were always aimed to try to make Catalonia fit in Spain as he believed in a plurinational Spain. A couple of months ago he surprised everybody by saying that seeing the unfair treatment Catalonia receives from Spain, and seeing that after 30 years the situation seems to be getting even worse, he had no arguments left against independence and that it might be the only option for Catalonia’s survival.

This week he made a speech called “Irrelevant or independent? Is there another solution?” along similar lines which was awaited with much expectation. Yesterday, in a radio program he again surprised everybody by saying that he had already voted for independence in the popular ballots.

Pujol’s support is a huge publicity boost for the popular referendums for independence that started in September 2009 in Arenys de Munt and have now taken place in approximately half of the Catalan municipalities (previous articles on this here and here). More than 60000 volunteers have participated in the organisation of these referendums since the start of the initiative. Taking into account Pujol’s impeccable democratic record his support only increases the importance of the event.

Today the UN’s International Court of Justice said Kosovo’s independence didn’t break any rules since there are no international laws that prohibits declarations of independence. This is very important for many stateless nations in the world, including Catalonia. The list of countries against Kosovo’s independence includes China, Serbia, Russia and Spain. Spain’s fear was that this ruling would create a precedent that stateless nations such as Euskal Herria (Basque Country) or Catalonia could use to accelerate their processes of independence.

This is excellent news and with very good timing since only two weeks ago Spain’s Constitutional Court sentenced that Catalonia has no right to organise referendums and therefore the possibility of a referendum of independence was shut leaving only the declaration of independence. Today’s sentence does indeed create a precedent in international law and clarifies that the international community would support Catalonia should we decide to follow the same path.

Catalan independentist association Reagrupament has been defending for years that this is the best choice for Catalonia and precisely this week a call to all Catalan independentists to unite to achieve this target was done by Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència, led by Laporta, López Tena and Bertran. Reagrupament have already showed their support and cooperation.

Congratulations to Kosovo!

Update on July 24th:

To clarify things you can download the full sentence here, in english. The precedent the sentence creates refers, in plural and in general to declarations of independence. Let’s read some of the articles:

80 “Thus, the scope of the principle of territorial integrity is confined to the spehere of relations between states” Meaning the principle of territorial integrity doesn’t apply if a secession comes from within a state.

81 “…no general prohibition against unilateral declarations of independence may be inferred…”

84 “For the reasons already given, the Court considers that general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence”

Now people can still argue Kosovo and Catalonia are different cases, which is true. But the above points of this sentence effectively are indeed applicable to any future declaration of independence.

Photo: AMWRanes

Things are moving fast in Catalonia. Today Joan Laporta, Uriel Bertran and Alfons López Tena have announced (video in Catalan) the creation of Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència urging all Catalan parties to form a coalition and commit to declare the independence of Catalonia should this coalition win the Catalan elections in November. Reagrupament have announced already that since this is the formula they’ve always defended they can count with them.

Back in 1906 a coalition called Solidaritat Catalana joined forces of all Catalan parties to fight Spanish centralism and regain self-government shares for Catalonia. Now this new Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència tries to follow the same steps but with the target to regain Catalonia’s independence and become a state within the European Union.

But let’s go back a couple of weeks to explain how events have developed to make it possible to reach this point.

A qualified board within the Catalan Parliament repeated a voting last tuesday about whether to give a go ahead to the Popular Initiative for a Referendum of Independence. The first voting a few weeks ago was affirmative. This time all Catalan parties unanimously voted against it. They argued that they took this decision because the Catalan Statute sentence from the Spanish Constitutional Court now bans the Catalan Parliament from organising referendums.

So, the people of Catalonia came out in force last week to call for independence, yet the elected parties first action after this was to contradict this wish, and indeed bring in measures against Catalan sovereignty and democracy. Independence is centering the political debate in Catalonia and parties are timidly modifying their speech to adapt it to the new independentist majority in Catalonia but their actions show they are unable to lead Catalonia in this issue and are paralysed and confused about what to do.

As a consequence of the rejection of the Popular Initiative, its promoters Alfons López Tena and Uriel Bertran, who also are two of the visible leaders and organisers of the popular referendums for independence, have resigned from their responsibilities from parties CiU and ERC, respectively and are working to make this coalition possible. They saw and understood that at the end of the day the current parties are completely unable to defend Catalonia and adapt their actions accordingly to the quickly changing reality and now that the way of the referendum is shut there’s only the way of the declaration of independence left.

Outside of the Parliament we have Reagrupament. The political association led by Joan Carretero have managed to create a solid candidacy for the elections next November and they’ve made it clear that, unlike ERC, they won’t get in any Government unless its first target is the declaration of independence at the Catalan Parliament.

Finally, we have Joan Laporta, the former president of FC Barcelona who, right after finishing his duty at the club, has announced that he’s going to step into the political arena with a new independentist party, Democràcia Catalana. Rumours are that his candidacy will include a good number of relevant personalities and intellectuals linked to the independentist scene. Mr Laporta seems to have a good chance of making an excellent result given his openly declared independentism together with his achievements at having turned Barça into the most successful sports club in the world.

The big question is whether this new Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència will be able to create a solid coalition and lead Catalonia to freedom. The ingredients are indeed there. I don’t think that the current parties such as CiU and ERC will join this coalition since they’ve repeatedly made decisions in the opposite direction but even without them a very strong coalition able to destabilize the Catalan Parliament can be achieved. I personally am very happy that this has happened as I’ve always defended from here I think this is the best way to go for Catalonia.

Photo: Vilaweb

Related: Joan Laporta’s speech (with english subtitles) at Reagrupament’s meeting last March

Sembla ser que ara a Madrid no els acaba d’agradar això de la IP del referèndum dels Srs López Tena i Uriel Bertran. És interessant el concepte de democràcia i d’estat que tenen a Madrid.

D’estat perquè si pensessin que la Generalitat és estat (vull dir, part de l’estat espanyol) quin problema hi ha en que la Generalitat organitzi referèndums sobre assumptes que interessen als ciutadans? (perdó, vull dir consultes, que referèndum sona massa seriós i les decisions serioses es prenen sempre a Madrid). Per tant, ens deixen clar que l’estat està a Madrid i això que tenim aquí és un Parlament de fireta per a fer bonic i no molestar.

En quant a la democràcia, fins ara a Madrid ningú ha tingut cap problema en que es facin “consultes” sobre xorrades con la Diagonal. Això sí, quan s’ha aprovat discutir si fem o no un referèndum sobre un tema que no els agrada ara no els sembla bé. Què ingenu, i jo que pensava que això de la democràcia consistia en fer votar als ciutadans per a saber què volen. Deu ser la democràcia a l’espanyola.

Dintre de 6 mesos decidiran si presenten un recurs d’inconstitucionalitat i previsiblement el recurs seguirà el camí de l’estatutet. Potser dintre de 10 anys ens aclariran què ens deixen fer i què els irrita. Deixar passar 6 mesos és un bon negoci per als dependentistes. Les eleccions tot just hauran passat i de passada estalviarà a un possible guanyador Mas haver de fer un incòmode debat sobre la independència al Parlament.

Pensem doncs que, basant-nos en l’experiència, és pràcticament segur el recurs i per tant el debat sobre la independència no arribarà al Parlament la propera legislatura. A no ser que votem en conseqüència. L’única opció per a aquells que volem la llibertat per a Catalunya és votar aquelles formacions que es comprometin a declarar unilateralment la independència de Catalunya en cas d’obtenir majoria de diputats favorables a la independència.

Foto: Jaume d’Urgell

L’Artur Mas ha fet recentment unes declaracions dient que per a ell el país no estava “madur” per a votar sobre la independència. Podem deixar que el líder del partit que, segons les enquestes, podria guanyar les eleccions al Parlament pensi d’aquesta manera i no passi res?

Per començar, dir que el país no és madur és un greu menyspreu cap al poble català i evidència un complexe d’inferioritat molt seriós. El poble català és perfectament madur com per a decidir el seu futur lliurement i democràtica ja que decideix cada dia sobre tot tipus d’afers.

En què es basa l’Artur Mas per a pensar que el poble català no vol decidir sobre la independència? És possible que tingui informes secrets que contradiuen tota evidència? Després que més de mig milió de catalans hagin votat als referèndums d’independència i que milers més ho facin demà. Després que totes les enquestes publicades per la UOC o inclús medis dependentistes com La Vanguardia i El Periódico que diuen que la majoria de catalans i catalanes són favorables a un estat propi i que la majoria dels votants de CiU també en són favorables.

De què té por? Que els votants de CiU contraris a la independència el deixin de votar? Que no el voten pas ara aquells que sí que en són favorables?

Necessitem líders que exerceixin com a tals. En moments de crisi calen persones que siguin capaces de liderar la transició entre dos projectes. No necessitem en Mas per fer de “gestor” de les engrunes que rebem d’Espanya.

Diu en Mas que “primer s’ha d’arreglar l’economia” i després pensarem en la independència. En aquest sentit la primera mesura ha de ser la d’alleujar allò que ens fa arrossegar, que ens frena. Una de les primeres coses a fer en aquest sentit és deixar de formar part d’un estat que ha dilapidat els diners catalans i europeus en projectes faraònics impossibles de rendibilitzar com l’AVE, que deliberadament menysprea les infrastructures a les àrees més productives com el corredor mediterrani per tal d’imposar la seva visió centralista, que ens aplica un dèficit fiscal insuportable i que s’està enfonsant ràpidament gràcies a la crisi.

Ara que finalment ha quedat palès que l’encaix a Espanya és del tot impossible, que no està preparada per a ni tan sols acceptar l’Estatutet, necessitem algú que catalitzi el desig d’avançar cap a la llibertat del nostre país, no algú que demani un impossible concert econòmic.

Per a mi el millor mètode per a assolir la independència és mitjançant la declaració unilateral al Parlament però ara que s’estan explorant altres vies, com la iniciativa popular d’en Tena, realment volem tenir al Parlament partits que s’autoanomenen catalans però que votarien en contra de fer el referèndum? Com es pot estar en contra de la llibertat del teu país? Això contradiu els mateixos estatuts de CiU que diuen clarament que el seu objectiu és el d’aconseguir el nivell màxim d’autogovern per a Catalunya.

Les paraules d’en Mas no són les d’un líder, són les paraules de la por. De què té por el Sr Mas?

A les properes eleccions l’objectiu dels catalans ha de ser el de crear una majoria al Parlament favorable a la independència. Tingue’m-ho en compte a l’hora de votar.

Foto: Xavier Trias

Sabadell organised last sunday their referendum of independence. With a population of 200.000 people, Sabadell has been to date the biggest city to organise a referendum and obviously poses an organisational challenge. The results, 92,78% “Yes” votes against 5,3% “No” votes. Overall, 22608 votes that make up for a 13,87% turnout.

If you think this is low keep reading. This voting used 800 volunteers and around 60000 euros budget that came from donations. I’d obviously like a bigger turnout but this follows the trend seen in bigger cities from previous experience and considering the circumstances (no budget, not official, no direct political consequences from this exercise, only volunteer work, media void) the figures are pretty good.

This time the media void has been more obvious than ever, not any remarkable mention from any of the unionist media and only after the voting was closed.

However, the usual turnout criticisms that always came from the unionists the day after the votings have not been seen. Why? There’s an explanation. A couple of weeks ago Barcelona’s Mayor Jordi Hereu organised a referendum about the refurbishing of Avinguda Diagonal, one of Barcelona’s main entrances. Attempting to turn Barcelona citizens into improvised expert urban planners the referendum had several hundred full time civil servants assigned to it and an estimated 3 million euros budget. When the referendum started it was discovered that it was fraught with reliability problems and even voting fraud (anyone could vote online for you as long as they knew your ID and date of birth).

Result, after the 1 week voting period only a 12,7% turnout and 80% of that vote went to the, intentionally non advertised, C option: to leave Avinguda Diagonal just as it is now. Interpreted as a clear punishment against Hereu’s frivolous “referendum”. Hereu’s political career is basically over.

Not that a referendum per se is a bad thing and in my opinion Avinguda Diagonal does need some changes but definitely Hereu’s way is not the way of doing things, as the citizens have let him know.

The positive consequence of all this is that unionists and especially the Catalan government, in the hands of Hereu’s party, can no longer criticise the referendum’s turnout since a handful of volunteers with barely no budget and a lot of enthusiasm have ridiculed Hereu’s 3 million euros referendum and nobody to date has managed to question or criticise the democratic validity of the popular referendums, with open countings and international observers.

Only two rounds left, the one on Cornellà on June the 20th and the final one next year in Barcelona.

The numbers are overwhelming for a little country of 7 million people. An unprecedented case in the world. Catalans have organised themselves acting as a State to organise a radical democratic display. 60000 volunteers (the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games gathered 30000 volunteers and was considered exceptional), 500000 million votes cast, 4 rounds of referendums and more than 400 towns and villages, including two of the Catalan capitals, Girona and Lleida. Yesterday the hashtag used to tweet about the referendum, #consultes, was at the top 4 trending topics in Spain during the whole day. An incredible effort that shows that in Catalonia the political option with the greatest support is independentism.

The Spanish media and the unionist Catalan media have tried to use the 20,8% turnout in this round to qualify them as a failure but they intentionally attempt to hide the real meaning behind the numbers. The smaller percentages are partly because the last two rounds have also involved bigger towns and cities and therefore organisation is much more difficult, especially with the official institutions not only ignoring it but in many cases actively blocking the organisers. Just a note, all criticism has targeted the turnout, nobody has attempted to question the methodology or validity of the referendums.

Considering that the traditional Catalan media (including TV3, the catalan TV, influenced by the unionist party PSC) have intentionally ignored them, that official votings require millions in expenses and that these referendums won’t have any immediate political consequences a 20,8% turnout means a huge success. Anyone who insists in denying its strength or claiming that the remainder 79% would vote against independence is making a big mistake or has deeper and darker reasons to despise a popular exercise of democracy like this. And anyway, if they believe the NO will win so overwhelmingly why are the Spanish so scared of them that they don’t want us to organise one?

The first round back in December was seen as a defiance to Spain so it was easier for it to achieve a 30% turnout, the newness. However, I completely agree with my colleague Manel Bargalló (link in catalan). Voting this time was an act of political activism. Having this amount of independence activists means that the independence choice has effectively no ceiling in Catalonia and means that Catalans of all ages, social backgrounds and political ideas agree that Catalonia needs its own State.

But above all these referendums have served a bigger purpose, to create an extremely active transversal network bringing together the underlying independentist movements and associations from where the leaders who are leading the way towards independence are emerging.

There will be another round in June, involving only a few dozen towns. After that everyone will be watching Barcelona, where the referendum will take place on April the 10th, 2011.

I have no doubt that if a binding referendum was organised tomorrow the YES would overwhelmingly win.

Finally we’ve got a date, the last round, the capital, the last referendum for the independence of Catalonia will take place on April 2011. The organisers of Barcelonadecideix.cat met yesterday and debated about the date with the accumulated experience from the previous rounds of 13D, 28F and the soon to come 25A.

Conscious of the challenge it will pose the organizers have preferred to give themselves plenty of time since this time everyone will be watching. The Barcelona Council, currently with PSOE in power, will not help the organisation by providing polling stations. The organisers calculate that 10000 volunteers will be needed and hope that people from Barcelona and all over Catalonia that have helped in the previous rounds will join to help make it a success.

(This is a translation for this article)

Recently it’s been made public that the strategy that the referendums’ National Coordinators want to follow is to promote a binding referendum using the brand new Catalan referendums law. On paper it looks good, we get the signatures. Then we take them to the Parliament, which will evidently approve it and then we take it to Madrid, where they’ll obviously deny it and then we have the conflict. Next we use the right to self-determination and under the supervision of the international bodies to let the Generalitat organise the Referendum.

This all looks good on paper, but, has anybody stopped to think that the execution of all this requires the Catalan Parliament to be clearly independentist? I mean, does anyone still believe that Artur Mas will do the slightest thing to contradict whatever they tell him to do in Spain? The same Mas who negotiated to cut down the Statute, the same Mas of the eternal “now’s not the time”, etc.

I can’t believe that, for instance, someone as intelligent as López Tena, who has proven to be able to organise the referendums until the last detail hasn’t realised that unless Laporta and Reagrupament achieve enough deputies next autumn (maybe adding ERC’s) the process of the Referendum will never reach Madrid, or if it does Mas will do as told from Madrid, he’ll never be able to challenge the Spanish State, he’s had plenty of chances so far. This is not Mas’ struggle, even thought many members of CiU are independentists, it’s current target is to manage the Autonomous Community, make no mistake. If we leave this responsibility in their hands they’ll spoil it.

That’s why I lean towards a declaration of independence, this is way easier and removes many unnecessary and complicated steps. Through this procedure we’ll create a new legality, then we’ll organise as many referendums as we want without anyone interfering.

However, I support all initiatives to achieve independence, but if we want to use the Referendum way we gotta do it well. That’s why I think that everybody, the National Coordinators, Deumil.cat, López Tena, Laporta, Reagrupament, everyone from the Acte d’Estat from a few weeks ago, etc. Everyone. We must start talking with humility, without prominence, we need to create a solid unity candidacy to achieve the greater number of deputies at the next elections to the Catalan Parliament. If we win, we finish the fast way, if we don’t at least we make sure the independentists have a real representation at the Parliament that will work for the Referendum to succeed. I know many people will call me a dreamer for saying this but I know that sooner or later unity will be necessary to achieve the independence, we’ll have to agree whether we like it or not.

What would be irresponsible is to leave in the current parties’ hands all the hard work done until now, they’ll spoil it. The job has to be finished by those who started it. We need the highest representation at the parliament and unity.