Oriol Junqueras, president of Esquerra Republicana, announced this Friday his participation in the demonstration organized on the Diada of September 11 by the pro-independence entities Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural in several cities of Catalonia. His attendance will break five years of absence at an event that, although it does not have the same pull as the peak moments of the procés, continues to be a barometer of the pro-independence sentiment and its mobilization in the streets. The change in the leadership of the ANC, after two very belligerent leaderships against the republicans, brings the pro-independence leader closer to a demonstration where controversy is reopened by the presence of the xenophobic group Aliança Catalana.
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“We will go everywhere,” Junqueras assured in a media briefing after his speech at the Universitat Catalana d’Estiu (UCE), which is currently being held in Prada de Conflent (France). The last time the republican leader attended the demonstration was in 2021, where he was met with a mix of support and rejection. The last two ANC leaderships, under Dolors Feliu and Lluís Llach, had been very belligerent towards the republicans’ decision to make a pact with the socialists and encouraged anti-political speeches due to the lack of progress towards independence. This led to no republicans, then in the Govern, responding to the call in 2022. The following year, Junqueras contracted COVID, and in 2024, September 11 coincided with the internal ERC leadership crisis.
The president of Esquerra explained that “the rain” prevented him from demonstrating last year. Indeed, it rained in Barcelona, and among the demonstrators was a triumphant and defiant Sílvia Orriols, who ended up becoming the protagonist after what happened the previous year. Llach, then in the leadership of the entity, had avoided vetoing the xenophobic group in 2024, although he made it clear that he did not share their ideas. “Everyone who is pro-independence will be welcome and not judged,” he said on RAC-1. The entity later qualified its president, stating that Aliança was not welcome, responding to complaints such as those from the CUP, which said they would not participate if there was no rectification.
The president of the Assemblea since last April, Josep Vila, avoided directly vetoing Aliança during the presentation of this year’s demonstration, although he made it clear from the start that their ideas go in different directions. “We represent the social front, not the political front. As entities that call for the demonstration, we do not address parties, but directly the people, and we have never made a list of invited or vetoed parties (…) The limits of the entities are clear and they are absolutely committed to all human rights,” he explained a month ago.
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In just one year, the demographic landscape has changed considerably, pointing to a considerable rise of Aliança. It now only has two deputies in the Parliament but almost all polls place it fighting with ERC for the position of the second force in the Chamber, leaving Junts with even half of the current representation. The Diada, as a barometer of pro-independence sentiment, will allow understanding how this preference for Orriols and her anti-immigration positions is reflected on the streets.
The distancing between ANC and ERC was exploited by Junts, which found that attendees at the demonstrations challenged the bet on dialogue with the socialists. But after doing the same following Pedro Sánchez’s investiture, it also began to experience questioning. Its bet in the face of Aliança’s rise has been not to engage in direct confrontation, to avoid being shown as a martyr. A path that now faces Orriols possibly showing strength on the street and in a space she considered hers amid a certain retreat of ERC.
This year’s demonstration, under the slogan “Hi sóc. Hi som. Independència,” will again be held in a decentralized manner, with events in Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta. In the Catalan capital, two columns departing from Casanova with Gran Vía and the Cathedral square will converge at Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona.
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