On Wednesday 25th of April, a group of Catalans together with Ógra Shinn Fein organised a protest at the GPO in Dublin. It was the day that was commemorated the Battle of Almansa. Three centuries ago, dated on 25th April of 1707, Catalan army was defeated by Borbon army, consequently the Furs of Valencian Reign were abolished. It is remembered in Valencia with games, readings, human castles and a unitary nationalist demonstration to show that today, Catalan Countries are still alive.
Catalan Countries are a little nation without sovereignty, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula and south of the Pyrenean mountain range and includes all territories where the Catalan language is spoken. There are 4 important capitals: Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Perpignan and Barcelona.
They have a population of about 12 million people and their native language is Catalan. In Catalonia,more than the 40% of the population is in favour of self-determination: Catalans demand complete national sovereignty for the Catalan Countries, that is, total political independence from France and Spain.
Politically the Catalan Countries are, at the present, 3 Autonomous Communities within the Spanish state plus a region of the French state. They have 3 parliaments, which, however, have little legislative power, and 3 autonomous government called Govern Balear, Generalitat Valenciana and Generalitat de Catalunya. They became part of the Spanish state in 1707-1714. In those years, the army of the kingdom of Castlile invaded the Catalan Countries and from then on they were no longer a sovereign state.
Until the present, the Castilian kings, at first, and then the different Spanish governments and dictatorships have tried to eliminate the Catalan cultural identity and create animosity between the Catalans and the rest of the people in the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless the Catalans have managed to keep their language and traditions alive and they still continue to claim the sovereignty that was theirs but was taken from them by armed force.
On Wednesday, Irish and Catalans showed the best international solidarity. In Dublín, Ógra and the Catalan independentists supported the right for all nations to self-determination, a common struggle still to be resolved for several nation in Europe.
Related link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82195
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