300th anniversary, September 11, 1714-2014, History Museum of Catalonia

The National Day of Catalonia is a day-long festival in Catalonia and one of its official national symbols, celebrated annually on 11 September. It commemorates the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and laws.

In March 2014, the Museum of History of Catalonia inaugurated the exhibition 300 onz September, an exhibition on the 300th anniversary of September 11, 1714, within the framework of the Tricentennial promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya, through ‘an exhibition that occupied 1,000 square meters where the keys of the historical process are revealed that have led to the consolidation of the 11th of September as the National Day of Catalonia. According to the director of the Museum, Agustí Alcoberro, he represented “a great deal of documentation effort on a subject that historiographically has been very little addressed. The New Plant decree can be found in its original version, signed by King Philip V, or an original statue, signed by Rossend Nobas, by Rafael de Casanova.”

The Museum of History of Catalonia and the curator of the Tricentenary commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of September 11, 1714. The memory of the events that occurred on that day in 1714, today, after three hundred years, is more alive than ever. Those who lived through that historical moment have succeeded in conveying its importance and significance.

History
The Army of Catalonia that initially fought in support of the Habsburg dynasty’s claim to the Spanish throne were finally defeated at the Siege of Barcelona by the army of the Bourbon king Philip V of Spain on 11 September 1714 after 14 months of siege. That meant the loss of the Catalan constitutions and the institutional system of the Principality of Catalonia under the aegis of the Nueva Planta decrees, and the establishment of absolutism.

The holiday was first celebrated on 11 September 1886. In 1888, coinciding with the inauguration of the Barcelona Universal Exposition, a statue in honor of Rafael Casanova was set up, which would become the point of reference of the events of the Diada. The celebration gained popularity over the following years; the Diada of 1923 was a great mass event, with more than a thousand floral offerings, acts throughout Catalonia and a certain institutional participation. But the demonstrations caused 17 wounded, five policemen and 12 protesters, and several arrests. The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera banned the celebration. During the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), the Generalitat de Catalunya (the autonomous government of Catalonia) institutionalized the celebration.

It was suppressed by Francoist Spain in 1939, and relegated to the family and private sphere, but continued to be celebrated clandestinely. The monument of Rafael Casanova was removed. Since 1940 the National Front of Catalonia took advantage of the day to carry out some propaganda actions: distribution of anti-fascist leaflets, clandestine hanging of senyeres, etc. It was celebrated publicly for the first time again on 11 September 1976, followed by a huge demonstration demanding Catalan autonomy in Barcelona the next year, on 11 September 1977, in which the Casanova’s statue was repositioned in its place, and the celebration was reinstated officially in 1980 by the Generalitat de Catalunya, upon its restoration after the Francoist State, becoming the first law approved by the restored Parliament of Catalonia.

The War of Spanish Succession and the establishment of Bourbon Absolutism
September 11, 1714 the last defense of Barcelona took place after 14 months of siege before the Duke of Berwick during the War of Succession in which the Bourbons (Philip V) and the Austrians (with Archduke Charles) came to fight throughout Europe for the crown of Spain, where it acquired a civil war character, as the supporters of both candidates were scattered throughout the territory, with the filipistas concentrating on the Crown of Castile (Castile, Andalusia and the northwest of the peninsula), and the Austrians in the Crown of Aragon(Kingdom of Aragon, Principality of Catalonia, Kingdom of Valencia and Kingdom of Mallorca). With the victory of Philip V, a uniform political system was introduced in almost all of its domains, which from that moment on included, besides the Crown of Castile, that of Aragon. The nobility privileges, local authorities and institutions of self-government previously respected by the House of Austria were repealed in all kingdoms declared Austrian (Menorca, then under English rule, temporarily escaped). For this reason, the 11/11 also reminds us of the subsequent abolition of Catalan civil institutions and liberties.

Vindication of the constitutional model abolished in 1714
The first vindication of the extinct states of the Crown of Aragon denouncing the absolutist regime resulting from the New Plant was the grievance memorial called Representación (1760); The document contained a denunciation by several critics of Bourbon politics, especially the monopoly of power by the Council of Castile and the Castilians in the Crown of Aragon, and the inability of its subjects to access the positions of Castile. For that reason they defended and exalted the positive aspects of the system before the New Plant and its justice, and called for equal representation between the kingdoms, against the discrimination of the Crown of Aragon. The New Plant Decrees that implanted absolutismto the Spanish monarchy they were repealed, ephemeral, with the Spanish Constitution of 1812.

The New Plant Decrees were definitively abolished when the Old absolutist regime collapsed, ending the Bourbon Absolute Monarchy in 1833, a century after its imposition on arms, and the constitutional Kingdom of Spain. However, the establishment of a liberal state did not entail the recovery of the constitutional system proper to the other states of the Crown of Aragon, but instead consecrated the constitutional Kingdom of Spain as a single, uniform political regime and centralized – an exception made of territories with historical rights and a leasehold regime-, which was the direct inheritance of the former Bourbon Absolutist Monarchy, and which recognizes only one nation, the Spanish Nation. The repeal of the Nova Planta decrees and the absolutist regime was legally ratified by the Spanish Constitution of 1837; Shortly after, in 1839, Pau Piferrer would dedicate from the pages of the second volume Recuerdos y bellezas de España, new considerations on the municipal government proper to the states of the Crown of Aragon abolished by Philip V in 1714.

The incapacity of the nascent constitutional kingdom Spanish to accommodate the reivindacions of Catalonia in the Spanish liberal regime gave the naturalization carlismo Catalan, which throughout the nineteenth century championed uprisings and three civil wars: the Regency of Urgell, the War of the Malcontents (1827), the First Carlist War (1833–1840), the Second Carlist War (1846–1849), and the Third Carlist war (1872-1876).

Struggle for the restoration of the Catalan constitutions
In 1841 Antoni Llinàs began the demolition of the military citadel of Barcelona to the cry of ” Victory over Catalonia and Barcelona! “, Though shortly afterwards Espartero ordered the arrest of him and restored him; in 1863 the historian Víctor Balaguer wrote History of Catalonia and the Crown of Aragon, and two streets in the Eixample of Barcelona were dedicated to Rafael Casanova and Antonio de Villarroel. With the Revolution of September 1868, the new head of the Spanish government was the Catalan general Joan Prim, who, knowing the wishes of the people of Barcelona, decreed the cession of the fortress to the city and immediately ordered its demolition with the installation of a plaque that read: ” The tyranny of Philip V, the first Bourbon, raised the Citadel.. Freedom, when thrown from Spain to the last Bourbon, brings it down. ” In 1871 the historian Mateu Bruguera published History of the memorable site of Barcelona and in 1874, within the framework of the Third Carlist War, the Diputació General de Catalunya or Generalitat Carlina was restored, which restored the Diputació de General de Catalunya.abolished by Philip V in 1714, by virtue of a decree signed in Estella-Lizarra by the pretender Carlos VII and through which he pledged to restore the Catalan Furs; the restoration decree of the Generalitat of Catalonia consisted of twenty articles that forged the pillars of the recovery of Catalan liberties and returned to Catalonia the powers in taxes, justice, municipalities, police, army, education and officials among others.

In 1886 the Barcelona City Council approved the construction of two statues to beautify the Paseo de San Juan, one dedicated to Bernat Desclot and the other to Rafael Casanova. In 1889, less than a year after its inauguration, the statue dedicated to Rafael Casanova became a symbol of the defense of Catalan institutions when it was the focal point of the manifestation organized in protest of the promulgation in Madrid of the reform of the Spanish civil code, which cornered the practice Catalan civil law, which had survived the abolition of the Catalan public law in 1714.

Home of the annual commemoration
The first event to commemorate the 11th of September was the Mass officiated in the parish of Santa Maria del Mar, next to the Fossar de les Moreres, in honor of the dead martyrs, which was held on September 11, 1886.. The ceremony was hampered by a ban on the sermon to be held by the canon of Vic Jaume Collell’s headquarters. The act was also criticized by Republicans for its religious character, and were criticized by Jaume Collel for his Catalanist and Catholic views; despite criticism from radical Republicans, the 1886 MassIt was the first commemoration of September 11 in honor of the martyrs who died defending Catalan liberties. The Mass, without sermon, was officiated by Jaume Collel, and was attended by Àngel Guimerà and Valentí Almirall. The traditional Mass in honor of the dead in 1714 was, from 1900, officiated by the Spiritual League of the Virgin of Montserrat, the secular association founded by Josep Torras i Bages, in the parish of Sant Just and Sant Pastor.

In 1888, to coincide with the opening of the Universal Exposition, the statue was installed in honor of Rafael Casanova, which would become the point of reference for protest acts. From 1891 the Foment Catalanista entity, an entity affiliated with the Catalanist Union, was in charge of organizing the traditional necrological vigil in honor of the martyrs of 1714 in Barcelona, events that were being expanded to other cities and cities. The structure of the events to commemorate the 9/11it was similar everywhere: Masses for the dead, historical lectures, scholarly dissertations, speeches, chants, performances of plays evoking the events of 1714, and literary readings of poems; the most read texts were those of Aulestia and Pijoan’s work on the fall of Barcelona, as well as those of Víctor Balaguer, those of Mateu Bruguera, and those of Sanpere and Miquel.

When the events were completed, and from 1894, those attending the event left the premises and in procession went to the statue in honor of Rafael Casanova to pay tribute to them with floral offerings. This prompted authorities to monitor activities closely and in 1896 the special issue of the Lo Regionalista newspaper was hijacked.dedicated to the dyad. Publications Catalan emulated and publications republican and working-class, who had as special days the 11th February, the first of May, and July 14, while Espanyol commemorate May 2 and 12, October.

In the commemoration of 1901 before the monument to Rafael Casanova and summoned by Lluís Marsans i Sola with the associations Catalonia and Avant, Lo Sometent, Lo Renaixement, Los Montanyenchs, La Falç and Lo Tràngul, the first arrests took place as a result of the clashes with the lerrouxists who wanted to boycott and bust the act. After making the wreath offering, there were clashes with police, with 30 detainees (including the future writer Josep Maria Folch i Torres). Another two detained on that day,Lluís Manau and Josep Soronelles, would establish La Reixa, a society that helps Catalan prisoners and join the Catalanist Union. On the 15th, the president of the Union, Manuel Folguera i Duran, called for a protest protest against the arrests that gathered about 12,000 people. These arrests turned an act, which until then was cultural and elegiac, into an act of political vindication.

On the day of 1905 the CADCI and the Regionalist League joined the Organizing Commission of the Day, and called to bring flowers and to decorate the balconies. The Government banned it and fined the organizers, as well as some attacks on the headquarters of various Catalan and popular publications. That year the corpus of blood, which was also held in conjunction with the day of 9/11, was On popular protests the Spanish government responded with the Law on Jurisdictions in Defense of the Honor of the Army and the unity of the homeland.

The commemorations of the later years were marked by the legalization of the Regionalist League and its confrontation with the more radical sectors, which led to the rejection of the commemoration between Republicans and Socialists. Enric Prat de la Riba opposed the commemoration of his romantic and uncompromising content, while Lluís Marsans i Sola affirmed his need as an affirmation of the struggle for freedom. In the days of 1912 and 1913, the City Council of Barcelona, dominated by the Lerrouxists, refused to make a floral offering to the monument of Rafael Casanova. In 1913the first offerings in the Fossar de les Moreres were started by the Nationalist Martinist House. In 1916 more incidents resulted in three arrests.

Commemorations from 1917 to 1920 were marked by the general strike of 1917, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Canadian strike, and the Regionalist League’s role in all of these movements. The day of 1923 was a great mass event, with more than a thousand floral offerings, events throughout the Principality of Catalonia and a certain institutional participation. But the demonstrations killed 17 people, five police and twelve protesters, and several arrests. The president of the Commonwealth of Catalonia expressed his complaint to the civil governor in person. But the coup d’etat that would install the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera again suppressed the commemoration for seven years.

Institutionalization Republican in autonomy (1931-1939)
The fall of the dictatorship and the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic ended with a ban on commemoration. The day of 1931 was marked by the plebiscite by the Statute of Núria, and the day of 1932 by the approval of the statute (two days before the day). Thousands of Catalan town councils joined and popular participation was numerous. The one of 1934 was marked by the conflicts generated by the Law of Cultivated Contracts, and the subsequent events of the sixth of October.

At the commemoration of 1935, the municipal representatives of the Catalan League were met with hostility when they brought their offering to Rafael Casanova, and a riot with police resulted in sixteen detainees. Despite police deployment and bans, a crowd called for the recovery of freedoms, autonomy and amnesty by members of the imprisoned government. The commemorations of 1936, 1937 and 1938, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, were characterized by their antifascist meaning, even on the day of 1937 the anarchist union CNT participated.

Under Franco (1939-1975)
During the Franco dictatorship, commemoration was again banned and relegated to the family and private spheres, but it was still kept secret. The monument to Rafael Casanova was removed. From 1940 the National Front of Catalonia used the day to carry out some propagandistic actions: launching of octaves, hanging of flags, etc. On the day of 1946, the FNC young man Josep Corbella was shot dead by police while hooking rams. However, as of 1947, the commemoration of the decline of the FNC by the imprisonment of most of its members.

It was not until 1964 that a commission met to commemorate September 11 (Committee of September 11), marking the 250th anniversary and coinciding with the Francoist celebration of 25 years of peace, composed by Joan Reventós, Josep Benet, Jordi Carbonell, Joan Colomines, Heribert Barrera, Joan Cornudella, Joan Ballester and Santiago Albertí. Eighth leaflets were printed and some 3,000 people gathered in Barcelona. In Sabadella banner was hung on the Monument to the Fallen. The civil governor, Antonio Ibáñez Freire, detained 7 people and imposed heavy fines.

On the day of 1967 a representative of the Workers’ Commissions and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia was part of the Committee, which gave a more popular and demanding attitude to the commemoration. The following commemorations would be in the background due to the formation of the Coordinator of Political Forces of Catalonia and the Assembly of Catalonia. The loudest was the day of 1971, when a group of FNC militants (Robert Surroca, Álvar Valls, Joan Colomines and Ton Ribas), in a room at the Duval Hotel in Barcelona, they placed two speakers that broadcast a message from the Front with the music of Els Segadors. In 1973 they tried to repeat the milestone through a pirated broadcast by the TVE of the Tarragona – Reus sector, but the operation failed to make the operation fail.

Recovery of democracy (since 1976)
The Assembly of Catalonia held a mass rally in Sant Boi de Llobregat the 11th of September of 1976, which was the first legal commemoration of the Day from the Franco occupation of Catalonia.

The following year, 1977, it was first performed in Barcelona, with a grand demonstration of one million people under the slogan “Freedom, amnesty and the statute of autonomy”. The political consequences of this manifestation were not long in coming: on September 29 the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored and on October 15 the law on political amnesty was passed. The Statute of Autonomy was passed in 1979, and freedom was gradually gained during the Transition.

Since the official proclamation as a national holiday of Catalonia in 1980, the acts of the Day are chaired by national institutions, and entities and political parties traditionally make very generous floral offerings, both in Barcelona and the rest of the Principality, to the monuments of Rafael Casanova and Josep Moragues. Independence organizations and groups also offer offerings in the Fossar de les Moreres, where many of the defenders killed during the siege of the city were buried.

Throughout the day there are demonstrations, concerts and informative stops are organized with a protest or festive nature, which in the 1980’s attracted a few thousand participants. Many people hang the flag or the starry balconies. In recent years, the Sant Jordi bread has become more popular in Barcelona for this day.

Due to the institutional and demanding nature of the day, in most public events, Els Segadors, the Catalonia anthem, is performed. Since 2004, the institutional event of the National Day of Catalonia has taken place, organized jointly by the Government of the Generalitat and the Parliament of Catalonia in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona. The event wants to remember different events around important events and personalities of Catalan culture.

Celebrations
Nationalist organizations, political parties and institutions traditionally lay floral offerings at monuments of those who led the defence of the city such as Rafael Casanova and General Moragues, marking their stand against the king Philip V of Spain. Typically, Catalan nationalists organize demonstrations and meet at the Fossar de les Moreres in Barcelona, where they pay homage to the defenders of city who died during the siege and were buried there. Throughout the day, there are patriotic demonstrations and cultural events in many Catalan villages and many citizens wave senyeres and estelades. The event has become more explicitly political and particularly focused on independence rallies in the 2010s.

The Party for Freedom
The Freedom Festival is a political act of Catalan civil society, to commemorate the Day in a festive and at the same time demanding way. This event, organized by Òmnium Cultural and with the support of the Commission on September 11, is a political act of national affirmation and vindication, in an open and participatory way. For this reason, since 2000, about 200 entities of Catalan civil society have performed an event that includes a sample of entities, the reading of a manifesto that is supported by the entities and a music concert. which closes the event.

The Exhibitions
300 anniversary of September 11. 1714-2014 reveals, through a journey of three hundred years of history, the keys of the historical process that has led to the consolidation September 11 as the National Day of Catalonia, since the day after undo it to the present day.

Defeat and repress
The fall of Barcelona on September 11, 1714 marked, in the Principality of Catalonia, the end of the War of Succession (1702-1715). The repression unleashed by Philip V of Bourbon was terrible. Thousands were imprisoned, executed and exiled. Property was confiscated, fortresses were demolished, and the entire population was disarmed. The Catalan state (Cort General, Generalitat de Catalunya, Consell de Cent…) was abolished and on January 16, 1716 the New Plant decree was established, establishing an absolutist power. Catalan private law, however, was saved. The captain general became the first political authority.

In Barcelona, the Citadel was built, to have the city controlled by weapons. Excise taxes, such as the cadastre, were a real war tax. The municipal governments were dissolved and the Spanish model of town councils was applied. The Spanish language was introduced progressively and systematically throughout the administration. The University of Barcelona and the rest of the Principality’s centers were abolished in favor of a single university in Cervera (1717). Complaints and supplications for curtailing these impositions (sometimes also subscribed by former supporters of the Felipist party) were not answered, as the Catalans were considered rebels to whom exemplary punishment had to be imposed.

The persistence of memory
The memory of the events began to be built already from the very moment of the war. Those who took part wanted to leave their testimony. Those who were part of the cult elites were able to collect it in writing, as is the case with the Historical Narrations of Francesc de Castellví, written in Vienna. Those who belonged to the popular sectors passed on from generation to generation. The repression suffered later, due to its traumatic nature, fueled the memory of the events.

Protests and attempts to reverse the situation with weapons and to regain their own political institutions lasted until the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1719 there was an armed uprising led by Pere Joan Barceló (Carrasclet). In 1725 the peace of Vienna signed between Emperor Charles VI and Philip V marked a turning point, but armed resistance continued until 1736. Protests also appeared, such as Via out the asleep (1734) or Record of the ‘Alliance (…) to Serm. George-Augustus, King of Britain… (1736). In 1760, already within the Bourbon order, a new demanding strategy began, which was specified in the presentation of the Greuges Memorial (1760).

The international dimension
Given the international character of the War of Succession, it must not be surprising that the final resistance of Barcelona had a great impact throughout Europe of the time. Voltaire himself will admire the Catalan resistance in a work focused on the times of Louis XIV of France. The case of the Catalans has roamed the European chancellors for many years, especially with the outbreak of new warlike conflicts on the continent.

The awakening of national consciousness
The popularization of 9/11, as a claim, was the work of the Renaixença. This literary movement of a romantic nature, begun in the first third of the nineteenth century, preceded and prepares the subsequent emergence of political Catalanism at the end of the century. About eighty poems, nine plays and five novels on the subject were published, under the auspices of the Barcelona Floral Games, during the 1950’s and 1990’s. Some were signed by big names such as Jacint Verdaguer, Àngel Guimerà or Serafí Pitarra. Historians also played a prominent role, as they had more public repercussions than those of the previous century. Víctor Balaguer was the great figure, but also a substantial contribution was made by Mateu Bruguera and Antoni de Bofarull. A common feature of the literates and scholars of those times was the claim of the old Catalan liberties and institutions destroyed by weapons. The demolition of the long-sought Citadel of Barcelona (1868-1878) was viewed by citizens as the destruction of a symbol of oppression.

The commemoration of a day
The first commemoration of September 11, 1714 took place in the late 19th century. In 1886 a first funeral was held in Santa Maria del Mar, next to the Fossar de les Moreres, where the old defenders of the city were buried. And also, at that time, the patriotic evenings of homage began. Soon, in 1888, the statue dedicated to the Chief Counselor Rafael Casanova was erected. This made it possible, in 1894, for the civic cult to make floral offerings at the foot of the monument, made by rather small nuclei, linked to progressive Catalanism.

From 1901 onwards, the celebration gained momentum thanks to the protagonism that, mainly from the Catalan Solidarity (1906), took on political Catalanism. The movement’s conquest of instances of political power enabled the commemoration to receive institutional support (which it had not had before) and expand. However, civil society continued to play a leading role. Thus, the Catalanist Union (federation of Catalan associations that did not participate in the electoral game) made a great promotion of the day for the first two decades of the 20th century. The growth of the celebration was cut short by the dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera (1923-1931).

The memory spaces
Apart from the Casanova statue, other memory spaces soon emerged. Concentrations at the Fossar de les Moreres began in 1913 and, that same year, the first homage to the tomb of Rafael Casanova was made in the parish church of Sant Boi de Llobregat. The bicentenary of the events of 1714 was decisive: in July 1914, a tombstone was opened in Vic de Bac de Roda, and in September the Casanova statue was moved to its current location, and new monuments were erected in Cardona, in Moià and in other towns of the country.

The institutional impulse
The beginning of the civic cult was an initiative of the Catalan civil society itself, given the absence of its own political bodies. The mighty political Catalanism, which in 1906-1909 organized the unitary movement Solidaritat Catalana, allowed the Catalan people to enter different councils and, in particular, to the Diputació de Barcelona. Also, it made possible the creation of a first self-government, the Commonwealth of Catalonia (1914-1923). In this way, all these political institutions endorsed the popular vindication and contributed to its spectacular impulse.

The first ban
The regime of General Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) was characterized by anti-workers’ and anti-Catalanism. For this reason, it suspended the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, the first Catalan self-government in modernity, and, from the beginning, banned the celebration of the day. In 1924 there was an attempt to make a Mass that was not authorized. The architect Antoni Gaudí, who wanted to attend, was detained and fined. That same year, a starry flag appeared in Lleida.

A splendid resumption
The inauguration of the Republican Generalitat, three days after Francesc Macià proclaimed the Catalan Republic on April 14, 1931, meant a great deal of commemoration. The Catalan republicans had instruments of state to strengthen 9/11 and had new means of communication, such as the radio, to disseminate their meaning. The 1931 holiday was celebrated in an atmosphere of euphoria, as the Nuria statute (which provided for the right to self-determination and the attribution of a state) was overwhelmingly approved. The following year, 1932, was the most crowded, joyful and festive of all, as it was done after the statute was finally approved (but very shortened). Historian and journalist Antoni Rovira i Virgili said that 9/11 had ceased to be a “groan of pain” and became “a cry of victory.” The outbreak of the civil war of 1936-1939 caused the dyad to take on a martial nature that it had never before. At the foot of the Casanova monument, units of the Republican army were marched, and as never became a celebration of homage to the fallen.

The wartime holiday
During the war, traditional floral offerings were replaced by badges that people wore on pillows near the Casanova statue. It was a way to raise money for the fighters. At that time, the participants’ social and political base also widened, as for the first time the CNT anarcho-syndicalists played a key role. The day of 1938 was the most emotional and sad, as it was the last that the republican Catalonia could celebrate.

The most difficult time
The repression unleashed during the dictatorship of General Franco (1936-1975) did not end with the removal of political opponents (executions, imprisonments, exiles…), but in Catalonia it was an attempt at identity genocide. On September 11, all manifestations of Catalan were banned. Casanova’s sculpture, along with others, was removed from the street in 1939. That same year, a miniature replica appeared on the site where the statue used to be, with a sign saying, “You will grow up.” And indeed the pamphlets and clandestine commemorative actions followed one another, despite the repression. In 1944, a pedestrian died when Francoist police fired on a member of the National Front of Catalonia who distributed leaflets of remembrance. In 1964, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary, commemorative actions were intensified. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s, workers’ parties and unions became fully involved in clandestine celebrations, which was a reflection of the Catalan claims being taken by a very important sector of the great immigration that was experienced. at that time.

National Day
In the final stage of the Franco regime, the Assembly of Catalonia linked the commemoration with the demand for self-government. In 1976 a major rally was organized, which was banned by authorities from being held in Barcelona and held at Sant Boi de Llobregat. The following year, in 1977, the political transition that had already begun, the largest demonstration ever seen was held during the day. Once the Parliament of Catalonia was democratically elected, in 1980, September 11, it was formalized as a national holiday and was celebrated throughout the country. The dismantled symbols were restored, spaces such as the Fossar de les Moreres were dignified and new monuments and memorials were erected throughout the territory (General Moragues, in Carrasclet, etc.). Gradually, the floral offering to Casanova became institutional in nature, and the popular demonstrations of the afternoon were no longer unitary and massive. It was the independence nuclei that persisted in the protest mobilization throughout the country, and in Barcelona they maintained the Fossar de les Moreres concentration and the demonstration. Since 2004, an institutional event has been held in Ciutadella Park.

A new cry
The days of 2012 and 2013 have been the largest in the history of Catalonia. The Via Catalana, the independentista human chain that traveled throughout Catalonia, has never been unprecedented. Mass participation is largely due to the failure of an attempt to reform the Statute of Autonomy pushed by the Parliament of Catalonia in 2005. The text approved by a referendum by the people of Catalonia in 2006, was distorted by Constitutional Court, which provoked a strong popular reaction against which it favored a great demonstration on July 10, 2012. Very wide sections of Catalan society began to claim the right to decide of the people of Catalonia. As in its origins, it has been the Catalan civil society itself that has instilled a new vitality in the commemoration.

History Museum of Catalonia
The Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC) is a museum located in the Palau de Mar in Barcelona, created with the mission of telling its visitors the history of Catalonia, by means of a collection of objects and documents that are They relate, in historical recreations and settings, and in audiovisual and computer equipment, which playfully approach the history of this nation, aiming to stimulate, as well as inform, the interest in the evolution of Catalan culture. It was created in 1996 by the Government of the Generalitat. It is also responsible for managing monuments owned by the Government of Catalonia, with the aim of improving their conditions of maintenance, visit and cultural dissemination. The museum depends on the Ministry of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which manages it through its Catalan Agency for Cultural Heritage.

The History Museum of Catalonia is a space open to everyone so that people can meet, debate and reflect. It is also a tool helping provide information, education and entertainment, while at the same time raising awareness. The permanent exhibition offers an interactive story of the history of Catalonia from earliest times to the present day, complemented with educational and leisure activities, workshops and temporary exhibitions.

The History Museum of Catalonia has become established as a leader in preserving, researching and popularising the country’s history and cultural heritage. The founding decree of 1996 establishes that the institution’s mission is precisely to “preserve, explain and popularise the history of Catalonia as collective heritage and strengthen citizens’ identification with the nation’s history”.