‘I Don’t Want an Independent Catalonia’: Rally Backs Unified Spain
‘I Don’t Want an Independent Catalonia’: Rally Backs Unified Spain
29, 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia residents opposed to independence from Spain took to the streets of Barcelona in large numbers on Sunday
but struck a moderate tone, with many saying they felt Catalan and Spanish — and wanted to remain both.
Many of those marching in favor of a unified Spain pledged to vote in the Dec. 21 elections for a new Catalan Parliament,
which were announced by the Spanish prime minister on Friday when he stripped the Catalan government of its power.
Camina said that We are not even allowed to wear a bracelet to school with the
Spanish flag’s colors, but you can wear one with the independence colors,
"We have to have a legal referendum and both groups here have to work together: not only Spain, not only Catalonia." Ms. Gonzalez echoed a feeling expressed by many
that the independence drive was dividing colleagues in the workplace, children in school and even families whose members lean in different directions.
Like many others who want the region to remain part of Spain, he did not vote in the October referendum
because the Supreme Court had ruled that it was unconstitutional.
The tone of the rally, much like the overall mood in Barcelona this weekend, was one of relief: The tensions of recent weeks over the Oct. 1 referendum
and the subsequent retaliation by Spain’s central government appeared to have subsided.
29, 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia residents opposed to independence from Spain took to the streets of Barcelona in large numbers on Sunday
but struck a moderate tone, with many saying they felt Catalan and Spanish — and wanted to remain both.
Many of those marching in favor of a unified Spain pledged to vote in the Dec. 21 elections for a new Catalan Parliament,
which were announced by the Spanish prime minister on Friday when he stripped the Catalan government of its power.
Camina said that We are not even allowed to wear a bracelet to school with the
Spanish flag’s colors, but you can wear one with the independence colors,
"We have to have a legal referendum and both groups here have to work together: not only Spain, not only Catalonia." Ms. Gonzalez echoed a feeling expressed by many
that the independence drive was dividing colleagues in the workplace, children in school and even families whose members lean in different directions.
Like many others who want the region to remain part of Spain, he did not vote in the October referendum
because the Supreme Court had ruled that it was unconstitutional.
The tone of the rally, much like the overall mood in Barcelona this weekend, was one of relief: The tensions of recent weeks over the Oct. 1 referendum
and the subsequent retaliation by Spain’s central government appeared to have subsided.