joaquim coll

Joanquim Coll, Vice President of Societat Civil Catalana – whichis the main pro-Spanish unity civil society organisation– accused the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, of "cheating everybody" with "this so-called participatory process" scheduled on November 9. In an interview with CNA, Coll foresaw "a great frustration for those Catalans who believed in Artur Mas' promise of being able to vote on November 9". In addition, "for the wide majority of citizens", November 9 "will not represent anything since the majority of Catalans neither wanted to participate in the first consultation vote, nor in this so-called participatory process", he argued. The unionist spokesperson hoped that "before the 9^th […] the rule of law and the principle of democracy must prevail". However, "after the 10^th, [we need] dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue", he concluded.

On Spain's National Day, the 12^th of October, the unionist association called Catalan Civil Society (SCC) organised a massive demonstration against Catalonia's self-determination and independence in downtown Barcelona, which was backed by the People's Party (PP) – running the Spanish Government, the anti-Catalan nationalist party Ciutadans (C's) and the Spanish nationalist party UPyD. It is the 3^rd consecutive year that a demonstration has been organised to support Spain's unity on the 12^th of October in the Catalan capital.  As happened on the two other occasions, organisers failed to fill up Catalunya Square although they gathered thousands of people carrying Spanish and Catalan flags. According to Barcelona's Police, 38,000 participated in it, while according to the Catalan Police 1.8 million people participated in the rally for the consultation vote and independence a month ago.