tribute

Catalonia's major political figures turn out to pay their respects at Rafael Casanova monument in Barcelona

Barcelona and London, the capital cities of Catalonia and the United Kingdom, suffered sustained bombardments by fascist air forces during the first half of the 20th century. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the aerial bombing of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) together with the European Observatory on Memories (Eurom) and in collaboration with the University of Brighton organized a conference at London’s Imperial War Museum to share Catalonia and United Kingdom’s history under the fascist bombs. The commemorative event gathered together representatives from the Catalan Government, mayors of some of the cities who suffered the most under the fascist aviation attacks, British politicians, such as Chris Bambery, former spokesman for the APPG on Catalonia, and researchers and historians from both the UK and Catalonia specialized in the Great World Wars.

Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, joined the international gathering this weekend to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, the biggest example of Nazi brutality in Austria. On Sunday, Romeva unveiled a plaque at Mauthausen Concetration Camp to “pay homage to the memory of all the victims of the Nazi concentration camps and to those who survived them”. Around 2,000 Catalans died at the Mauthausen-Gusen camp between [falten les dates aquí]. “We ourselves lived through our own Civil War just before World War II and we are very familiar with the ugly face of fascism and the ravages of violence,” added Romeva. Other associations such as Amical Mauthausen and the Catalan Association of Friends of Israel also participated in paying their respects.

The Catalan Government paid tribute last Sunday to the 309 victims and their families that have been recognised as victims of Franco’s regime since 2009, the last time such a ceremony took place. During the event, which took place in Universitat de Barcelona’s auditorium, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva compared “with due respect to the obvious differences” the justice of Franco’s dictatorship and that of the current Spanish State. “Today there are still echoes of the Francoist melody” he said, referring to the “interference of the Spanish Government in the judicial system”. Moreover, Romeva stated that despite having overcome the Francoist dictatorship, which reigned in Spain from 1939 until the dictator’s death in 1975, it still has to be proved whether Spain’s democracy “is worthy of the name”.

Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, staked a claim for Catalonia’s “own voice in the world” to defend “universal values” such as that which Catalan soldiers stood for in World War I. Romeva made this statement this Monday at Belloy-en-Santerre (France) where he paid tribute to the Catalan volunteers who fought with the French Foreign Legion to liberate this region from German forces, on the 4^th of July 1916. Romeva emphasised that those soldiers “fought for these ideals, against authoritarianism and for republican values”. After a diplomatic conflict which nearly banned the Catalan Government from taking part in the homage, Romeva celebrated that Catalonia could finally pay tribute to the soldiers with the Catalan flag and apart from the Spanish Government. 

Saturday night’s match at Camp Nou, was an epic game that had it all — a tear-inducing pre-game tribute to the recently passed Johan Cruyff and a minute of silence, frighteningly fearless tackling, heart-stopping end-to-end play and, somewhat surprisingly, a tight, evenly matched encounter standing in juxtaposition to an uncommonly large gap between the two arch-rivals in the league table. The loss, a dramatic reversal from the first meeting between the two rivals this season, when FC Barcelona routed Real in Madrid, 4–0, is FCB’s first defeat since 3 October and snaps their Spanish record 39-game unbeaten streak. What had been a ten-point gap between the league's first- and third-place teams now sits at seven.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and current Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy presided over the tribute to the victims of the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps one year ago, on its way from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, with 150 on board. Both presidents exchanged “cordial” words during the institutional event but avoided commenting on any political issue, sources from the government stated. This Wednesday’s coincidence was the first meeting between Puigdemont and Rajoy since the Catalan President took office, on the 12^th of January. The Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, noted that Rajoy didn’t call Puigdemont when he was instated as President or to “show condolence” after the coach crash which killed 13 international students this past Sunday in the south of Catalonia.

The Commission for Dignity, an NGO that aims to return the documents confiscated by Franco’s troops at the end of the Spanish Civil War to their rightful owners in Catalonia,“urged” the Spanish state and the army to condemn the court-martial that executed Catalan President, Lluís Companys in 1940. The Commission also invited Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and commanding officer of the Spanish military forces stationed in Catalonia, General Boyero Delgado, to attend the commemoration events “as an action of normality”. One of its initiatives to fight for the preservation of historical memory is to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of Companys’ execution. As a tribute, the Commission is also preparing a concert on the 11^th of October, performed by the School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) and to be held at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC).

At 9 o’clock this morning, all the political parties represented in the Catalan Parliament and in Barcelona’s City Hall, with the exception of the conservative People’s Party (PP), anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) and alternative left and radical independence party CUP, paid the traditional homage to the statue of Rafael Casanova, Barcelona’s Chief Councillor when the city was defeated on the 11th of September 1714. The first to arrive were Catalan President Artur Mas and Catalan Parliament spokeswoman Núria de Gispert. Civil society organisations such as FC Barcelona, RCD Espanyol, and Òmnium Cultural (the main organisation promoting Catalan culture and language) also participated in the event. The flower offering was the first of many events being held to commemorate Catalonia’s National Day, the 11th of September. The date not only commemorates Catalonia’s defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession, but it also recalls its consequent loss of sovereignty, self-government institutions and Constitution. 

The 11^th September is Catalonia’s National Day, which commemorates those who were defeated by Bourbon troops on the same date in 1714, after defending Barcelona during a military siege that lasted 14 months. From that moment onwards, Catalonia lost its self-government institutions, its own laws and freedoms, and the Catalan language was banned and persecuted. The day has numerous ceremonies and celebrations throughout Catalonia. However, this year the commemoration of the National Day is marked by the proximity of the upcoming Catalan elections on the 27^th September and the electoral campaign. 

A memorial ceremony for the 150 victims of the Germanwings plane, 53 of whom were living in Catalonia, has taken place on Monday evening at Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica, the world famous church designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. In the end, the ceremony also included a few words from representatives of the Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities, after the controversy surrounding the Archbishop of Barcelona, Lluís Martínez Sistach, who had initially planned a solely Catholic ceremony. The mass was attended by relatives and close friends of 52 victims. Out of the 150 victims on the Germanwings plane, which was flying between Barcelona and Düsseldorf and was intentionally crashed in the Alps, 47 had Spanish nationality and 72 were German citizens. The ceremony in Barcelona was held in Catalan, Spanish, German, French, English, Greek and Italian. It was attended by the King of Spain, the Spanish PM and the Catalan President.

L'Amical de Ravensbrück association and the Catalan Government commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany on Sunday. The association of Catalan survivors of this Nazi camp and their relatives organised the event, in which some of the camp survivors participated, including Neus Catalá - the only living Spanish survivor of Ravensbrück. The commemoration coincided with celebration of Neus Catalá, aged 99, who this year was given the Gold Medal of the Government of Catalonia, the highest award given by the institution.

On Thursday, the families of the Germanwings crash victims arrived at the crash site to bid farewell to their relatives. They did so on the day it became known that the aircraft was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, killing all 150 people on board. A private ceremony took place in a field in Le Vernet that hosts a small chapel and faces the mountain on which the plane crashed. The relatives of the victims, most of them Germans and Catalans, arrived by bus from Marseille, escorted by the French Gendarmerie and psychological support teams. A tribute plaque was unveiled and they were told that the crash happened just on the other side of the mountain in front of them. After the ceremony, they were transferred to a pavilion in Seyne-les-Alpes, where they were offered religious services of various faiths for those who needed them. In the evening, most of the Catalan families decided to return home, as initially planned.