25.06.2014 - 17:36
Fifteen groups and political parties (among which are ERC, ICV, the CUP, and Reagrupament) will demonstrate tomorrow against the presence of Felipe VI in Girona for the Fòrum Impulsa. The demonstration will begin at 8pm in the Plaça del Vi. The objective, they say, is to make clear the city’s rejection of the monarchy and to “stand up to” the attempt to legitimize and clean up the royal family’s image. Both the groups and the parties say that now, in addition, is a “historic moment” for the city to reject the title of prince or princess of Girona, and to defend the right to decide. Both ICV and the CUP criticized the mayor of the city, Carles Puigdemont, for representing the city government at the Impulsa prize award ceremony, after the motion rejecting the honorary titles at the last city hall session.
The march will be led by a placard reading, “Cap pacte, cap rei; el poble català decideix” [No pact, no king; the Catalan people decide]. Behind the placard, there will be representatives from fifteen different groups and political parties who have united to reject the visit of the Spanish king and queen to the city.
Among the list are, for example, the Ateneu 24 de juny, the El Forn pro-independence club, the SEPC, the Endavant collective, and the Xarxa de Drets Socials [Network for Social Rights]. With respect to the political parties, it is ERC, CUP, ICV-EUiA, Reagrupament and Solidaritat who will support the protest. The organizers promise that the protest has been called in a “civic, festive and peaceful” spirit and that they have no desire for confrontation with the police.
On the other hand, the groups and parties underscore that the objective is to make very clear that Girona roundly rejects the monarchy as well as the title of prince or princess of the city. “Faced with the zillionth Bourbon visit, once more, Gironians wish to celebrate their Republican feeling and to stand up to the State operation to legitimize the monarchy in our area,” said councilperson and spokesperson for the CUP in the city hall, Jordi Navarro.
Both Navarro and the ICV councilperson, Núria Terés, insist that the protest is “completely consistent” with the motion that was approved in an extraordinary session last week. A text that made very clear that the royal title “does not represent the city” and that in contrast with the scenario in 1981, now the “necessary consensus” in the city government to ask the Royal Family to use the titles is simply not there.
For that reason, the two councilpeople criticized the mayor, Carles Puigdemont, who will attend the Fòrum Impulsa tomorrow as a representative of the Girona city government. “Saying no to the title implies not participating or promoting events that are organized by a private group called the Fundació Príncep de Girona [Prince of Girona Foundation], for that reason, we believe that it is a shame that the mayor is going,” said Terés.
Right to decide
The organizers of the march insist that, in the context of the “historic moment” that the city is living after having rejected the monarchy, now more than ever it’s important to support the right to decide. “The new king Felipe VI is coming to try to clean up his image and that of the royal family, and it’s all part of a strategy to tell us how the unity of Spain is indivisible; but we have already started on our democratic itinerary, which is the right to decide, and the path that we have chosen is the referendum on November 9th,” said Terés.
Terés also underscored that the protest in Girona “makes more sense than anything else.” In particular, because “they chose Girona to “clean up the image of this caste”—referring to the monarchy—coinciding with the celebration of an annual forum organized by the Fundació Príncep de Girona (Prince of Girona Foundation, FPdGi). “This is the best moment for the city to distance itself from the whole thing, not just the monarchy but also the foundation; and in addition, keeping in mind that we’re talking about a project that is promoted by private companies,” he concluded.
