Upcoming Protests against the Ongoing Trial of the Catalan Political Prisoners and Leaders over the 2017 Independence Referendum

February 16: Unitary Mass Demonstration in Barcelona

The first major event will be held in Barcelona on Wednesday, February 16,  four days after the start of the trial. The march will start at 5 pm at Spain Square and will follow the Gran Via to University Square. The organizers expect massive attendance, with numbers reaching historic levels. In order to guarantee a massive attendance, the ANC, Òmnium and other organizations will offer bus trips across Catalonia to anyone who wants to attend the demonstration.

February 21: General Strike

The organizers expect to be able to paralyze the whole country and this could also be the beginning of major permanent protests, which could paralyze the country indefinitely until the Catalan Republic is implemented and the Catalan political prisoners are released. The Catalan trade Union Intersindical -CSC has officially called for this strike, though it has the support of all pro-independence and some federal parties and organizations. According to the law, strikes for political purposes are illegal. For this reason, the Intersindical -CSC maintains that the strike is strictly for reasons related to labor: to protest against the labor reform of 2012, which will have its seventh anniversary on February 10; to claim a minimum salary of 1,200 euros per month; and to recover the social laws of the Parliament of Catalonia suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

March 16: Unitary Demonstration in Madrid

 One month after the unitary demonstration in Barcelona, another will take place in Madrid. So, on March 16, independentists and some federalists will be mobilized in the same city where the former Catalan government is going to be judged over the 2017 independence referendum. The demonstration will start at 6 pm; the route has not yet been announced.

 Around the world

 These are just the main rallies in Spain. The pro-independence organization ANC’s international branches are also planning almost 30 protests in different European countries and even one in the US on February 12th, the day the trial against the Catalan political prisoners and leaders will begin.