2017 Catalan general strike

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Demonstrations before police and political headquarters in Barcelona

Catalan government
, the Catalan branches of the country's two largest labor unions, and pro-independence cultural groups.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, including 700,000 in Barcelona, participated in the strike. Despite high tensions, protests were civil, festive, and without incident, similar to prior pro-independence rallies. While protesters targeted Spanish police and national government sites, other effects included suspended public transportation and port activities, canceled university classes, and closed businesses small and large. Immediate effects of the strike included an emergency meeting called by the

King Felipe VI that condemned Catalan disloyalty and notably did not mention police violence during the referendum. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont announced that the regional government would declare unilateral independence, which it did later that month
.

Background

Catalonia held a contentious referendum on its independence from Spain on Sunday, 1 October 2017, against orders from the Spanish central government.[1] The national police enforcement attempted to prevent Catalans from voting in some locations with violent crackdowns[2][3] that resulted in about 900 people injured and separatist calls for a general strike.[1][3] By the time of the strike, the Catalan government was awaiting final referendum results before acting on what they had preliminarily announced as 90 percent support from about 2.3 million voters. The legitimacy of a declarative result was disputable for reasons of general population turnout, voter rolls, and independent confirmation.[1] Sky News described the events as Spain's largest political crisis since its 1930s civil war.[4]

Police violence during the referendum galvanized Catalan unions and cultural associations in support of the general strike.

Catalan government[1] and the Catalan branches[9] of Spain's largest unions:[5] the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and Workers' Commissions (CCOO).[9] (Their national leadership,[9] however, advised Catalans against participating, adding that protests should be nationally coordinated.[1] For legal reasons, the labor unions additionally referred to the strike as a labor dispute, despite its political purpose.[7]) Together, the dozens of pro-independence groups were known as the Taula per la Democràcia, or Board for Democracy.[8][10] They called for three million Catalans, including business owners, workers, and the self-employed, to withhold their work and bring Catalonia to a halt.[5] At the time of the strike, Catalonia represented a fifth of the Spanish gross domestic product, comparable in size to the Chilean economy.[11] Separatists hoped that the strike would become a major demonstration, leading shop owners to shut down as protesters moved downtown.[1]

Actions

Demonstrators for peace cross the Lo Passador bridge from Deltebre to Sant Jaume d'Enveja in southern Catalonia

On 3 October, two days after the referendum, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators

city squares at Ronda de la Universitat.[6] Demonstrators gathered before the region's town halls before a planned action at 6 p.m.[6] Barcelona city police later estimated the city's crowd to be 700,000 people in size.[3]

The Spanish police were a focal point of protest as a response to their actions during the referendum.

National Police Corps station in Barcelona continued from the day prior for its role in repressing the referendum. Demonstrators also protested the Spanish Delegation to Catalonia [ca][6] and showed broad contempt for the Spanish press, whom they accused of manipulative reporting and casting separatists as greedy and violent.[14]

Despite high tensions, protests were civil, festive, and without incident, similar to prior pro-independence rallies.

strikebreakers" on their storefronts.[13]

The Estelada flag of Catalan independence

Protesters also sought to maintain momentum from the referendum. Some wore the Estelada (separatist flag) in yellow, red, and blue.[3] Crowds sang Catalan singer Lluís Llach's "L'Estaca" and the Catalan anthem, "Els Segadors".[10] On the Via Laietana, they chanted "Withdraw the forces of occupation" and "The disgrace of Europe" to the tune of the rock song "Seven Nation Army".[14]

Effects

The strike led the

cassolada protest, in which residents publicly made noise with pots and pans.[14]

The union of the Spanish military police compared circumstances in Catalonia to the violent 1981 peak of the Basque conflict, in a warning to police. The police union asked Spanish politicians to protect or withdraw those stationed in Catalonia.[1] The security forces deployed to Catalonia were put on standby for the upcoming week.[3] On the first night of the strike, their union filed complaints: that the Catalan police had not fulfilled its duties by not enforcing the Spanish court ban of the referendum, and that 200 officers were kicked out of a Calella hotel following a threat from the town's mayor.[3]

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy remained unrepentant, but met with opposition parties in Madrid.[3] The spokesman for his party derided the "political" strike, compared the separatist function to Nazi indoctrination,[1] and called for Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont to be banned from public office.[6] Puigdemont, in turn, charged the Spanish government with returning to the authoritarian dictatorship of Franco.[1] The first night of the strike, Puigdemont said that the Catalan government would declare independence within a week.[3] Later that month, Catalonia declared its independence.[15]

dockworkers refusing to accommodate armed police boats, firefighters protecting demonstrators, and farm workers creating blockades with tractors.[7]

The labor union Intersindical-CSC called for a follow-up general strike a week later—from 10 to 16 October—which it later retracted.[16] A month later, multiple Catalan groups called for another general strike against the Spanish government's actions against the Catalan independence process, to take place on 8 November,[17] which closed roads across Catalonia but was much smaller in scale than the general strike.[18][19]

See also

  • 1988 Spanish general strike, a general strike called three decades earlier by the same labor unions
  • La Canadiense strike
    , a 1919 strike in Barcelona that became a general strike and led to legislated work day length limits
  • Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, a Barcelona-founded labor union that organized multiple Catalan strikes
  • Tragic Week (Spain), a series of violent confrontations between the Spanish army and Barcelonan working class radicals

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    .
  2. ISSN 0362-4331
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Clarke, Hilary; Rebaza, Claudia; Soares, Isa (2017-10-03). "King of Spain: Catalan leaders were disloyal". CNN. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  4. Metro
    . Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  5. ^ a b c "General strike called across Catalonia". The Local. 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k González, David (2017-10-03). "Catalonia is at a standstill in opposition to Sunday's repression". El Nacional. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  7. ^ a b c Bernat, Ignasi; Whyte, David (2017-09-28). "Committees in Defence of the Referendum: update from Catalonia". Red Pepper. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  8. ^ a b Macià, Maria (2017-10-01). "Pro-independence organisations, unions call for general strike on 3rd October". El Nacional. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  9. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    .
  10. ^ a b c Lasalas, Marta (2017-10-03). "Call for withdrawal of Spanish police forces overflows streets of Catalonia". El Nacional. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  11. ^ "Pro-independence groups, unions call for general strike Oct. 3 in Catalonia". Reuters. 2017-10-01.
  12. ^ "Anti-police strike grips Catalonia". BBC News. 2017-10-03.
  13. ^ a b c Marsden, Sam (2017-10-03). "Thousands take to the streets in Barcelona in what Madrid calls a 'rebellion'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Mackey, Robert (2017-10-03). "Massive Protests in Catalonia as General Strike Is Observed". The Intercept. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  15. NPR.org
    . Retrieved 2019-09-04.
  16. ^ Fuentes, Antoni (2017-10-05). "Convocada una nueva huelga general en Catalunya". El Periódico de Catalunya. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  17. ^ "General strike in Catalonia called for 8th November". El Nacional. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  18. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (2017-11-08). "Independence supporters have brought Catalonia to a standstill". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  19. AP News
    . Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Further reading

External links

Media related to General strike in Catalonia (3 October 2017) at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2017_Catalan_general_strike&oldid=1187255701"