With a photographic installation located on the balcony of the Palau de la Generalitat, the Government of Pere Aragonès has honored this Friday the proclamation of the “Catalan Republic” in 1931 by the Catalan president Francesc Macià , of which the current Government “feels heir “. For his part, Aragonès has indicated when commemorating the 92 years of the proclamation of the “Catalan republic” that his proposal for a clarity agreement wants to “revolt the conflict with the State” and “empower the citizenry”.
On April 14, 1931, after an ERC victory in the municipal elections, Macià took advantage of the inauguration of the Barcelona Provincial Council to proclaim a “Catalan republic within a federation of Iberian republics”, hours before Niceto Alcalá- Zamora proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic.
The tension between the two was resolved with the recovery of the Generalitat -an institution with origins in the 14th century- with a provisional government that drew up the Nuria Statute of Autonomy, which defined Catalonia as an autonomous region within Spain with powers in areas such as education or health. That same year, Macià revalidated the presidency of the Generalitat, a position that the Esquerra leader held until his death on December 25, 1933.
92 years after that proclamation in 1931 by Macià , that moment has been honored this Friday by the current Catalan Executive -again in the hands of ERC- through a photographic installation that reproduces, through black and white panels , the silhouettes of Macià and other ERC leaders in real size, looking out on the balcony.
As Government sources have explained, it is an initiative of the Department of the Presidency and its idea is to “commemorate and reproduce” that proclamation by Macià , of which the current Executive “feels heir and wants to continue on his path.” The Government considers that the Spanish monarchy “is an anti-democratic anachronism” and, for this reason, it will continue “fighting to make the Catalan Republic possible”, said sources have pointed out.
This photographic montage Рwhich will remain until Saturday morning Рcoincides with the celebration this afternoon of an event in the Palau de la Generalitat to commemorate Republic Day, headed by the Catalan president, Pere Aragon̬s, and the Minister of Justice , Rights and Memory, Gemma Ubasart and with the presence of other members of the Catalan Executive, the first vice-president of Parliament, Alba Verg̩s, and representatives of various parties. They have attended, for example, Ferran Pedret (PSC-Units), Susanna Segovia (commons), Josep Maria Jov̩ (ERC) and Joaquim Jubert (JxCat), in an event that also included an intervention by the historian Anna Sall̬s and a performance by the singer Beth.
“April 14 is a date that is always associated with the ideas of justice and freedom, of empowerment of the citizenry, who, through voting in elections, obtained a Republican majority and achieved a regime change,” Aragonès stated. That day, he continued, “opened the hopes of many Catalans who had lived on the margins of power, who had been invisible in many decisions, belittled, ignored, exploited and kept away from shared prosperity. With that proclamation, many people converted in first-class citizens, fully”.
