2012 Catalan independence demonstration
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The 2012 Catalan independence demonstration was a protest which occurred in central Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, on 11 September 2012 during the National Day of Catalonia.[4][5][6] The protestors demanded the independence of Catalonia and its establishment as a sovereign state under the slogan "Catalonia, new state in Europe" (Catalan: "Catalunya, nou estat d'Europa").[7][8][9] It was organized by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and headed together with the Association of Municipalities for Independence as the most prominent of a series of events known as "March towards Independence" (Catalan: "Marxa cap a la Independència") which began on 30 June 2012 in Lleida.[10][11]
2012 Catalan independence demonstration | |
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Date | 11 September 2012 (2012-09-11) |
Location | Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 41.3854°N 2.1767°E / 41.3854; 2.1767 |
Caused by | Increase of Catalan independentism boosted by the Spanish Constitutional Court banning some articles of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia in 2010 and the 2008–13 Spanish financial crisis[1][2][3] |
Goals | Independence of Catalonia |
Methods | Protest march, street protest |
The estimated number of participants ranges widely, from 600,000 people quoted by some media,[12] statisticians such as Llorenç Badiella from the Autonomous University of Barcelona[13] or the delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia[14][15][16] to 1.5 million according to Catalan public sources such as Barcelona's Municipal Police or Catalonia's Department of the Interior, with a maximum estimate of about 2 million according to the organizers.[12]
The city centre was crowded for hours and it was feared that the massive influx of people was going to bring mobile phone networks to a standstill.[17][18] Many newspapers and other news agencies described it as a "historic" demonstration and considered it to be the biggest protest march ever held in Catalonia since the restoration of democracy in Spain,[19][20][21][22][23][24] surpassing other major demonstrations, including the 2010 Catalan autonomy protest.[25][26]