The Catalan Way (), also known as the Catalan Way towards Independence (), was a human chain in support of Catalan independence from Spain. It was organized by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) and supported by 14 nongovernmental groups. It took place in Catalonia on 11 September 2013, which is the National Day of Catalonia, known as Diada. Catalonia's Department of the Interior estimated the number of participants at about 1.6 million. The human chain followed the ancient Via Augusta, from Le Perthus (France, Vallespir) up to Alcanar (Spain, Montsià). According to Carme Forcadell, president of the ANC at that time, it was "a symbol of the unity of Catalan people to achieve national sovereignty".
Plans for the Catalan Way were presented for the first time on 19 June 2013, at the Museu d'Història de Catalunya; the inspiration for these was the 1989 Baltic Way. The presentation included Henn Karits and Ülo Laanoja, two members of the organization which staged the Baltic Way. Three weeks before the event, more than 350,000 people had registered to participate. In total, the organizers mobilized about 1,500 buses and 30,000 volunteers to help organize the event.
Catalan Way 2014 took place the next year.
Historical precedents
In 1989, the Baltic Way was organized by the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, spanning across the three Baltic states which at the time were occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union. This human chain linked the capitals of the three countries demanding the end to the Soviet occupation. During the final stages of the Cold War, the three Baltic countries were able to restore full independence in August 1991. According to the Baltic Way's manifesto, "A common European home can only [be] set up if all European nations are granted a free right to self-determination".
The 2010 Catalan autonomy protest was a demonstration held in central Barcelona on 10 July 2010 against the limits set to the autonomy of Catalonia within Spain, and particularly against a then recent decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to annul or reinterpret several articles of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, approved in referendum by 73.9% of the voters. The number of people taking part in the demonstration was estimated at between 1.1 million (according to the local police) and 1.5 million (according to the organisers) Madrid-based newspaper El País estimated the number of demonstrators at 425,000.
Catalonia saw several local referendums for independence take place in hundreds of villages between 13 September 2009 and April 2011, with an overwhelming number of "yes" votes being cast. The 2012 Catalan independence demonstration, organized by the Catalan National Assembly, argued that Catalonia should become an independent state within the European Union, under the slogan "Catalonia, new state in Europe". The number of participants was estimated at about 1.5 million according to Barcelona's Municipal Police and Catalonia's Department of the Interior, about 2 million according to the organizers, and about 600,000 according to the delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia.
Pre-Catalan Way activities
Registration and previous acts
The Catalan Way was presented for the first time on 19 June 2013, at the Museu d'Història de Catalunya. The presentation included Henn Karits and Ülo Laanoja, two members of the organization which staged the Baltic Way.
On 4 July, the National Catalan Assembly (ANC) opened the registering period through its website. More than 22,000 people were registered during the first 24 hours and over 78,000 the first week. Registrations grew steadily since then and, three weeks before the event, more than 350,000 people had already signed in. The southern areas of Catalonia were considered the hardest ones to fill due to being less populated and farther from Barcelona. On 2 September, nine days before the Diada, no section of the Catalan Way was left with low occupancy.
During the summer, some practice runs of the Catalan Way took place in several cities around Catalonia.
Response of the political parties
Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) expressed their support and participation in the Catalan Way, while Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), Partit Popular (PP) and Ciutadans opposed. Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) asked their activists to join the human chain organized by Procés Constituent to surround La Caixa the same day.