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Catalunya 'IndyRef': Student lock-ins and protests in Barcelona and Girona
23/09/2017
THOUSANDS of students staged the first of what is set to be a series of lock-ins in Barcelona and Girona Universities on Friday, and are calling for everyone to 'empty the classrooms' next Thursday against the central government's 'Franco-esque repression'.
Over 3,000 undergraduates filled the Plaça Universitat in Barcelona, outside the UB's main building, and several hundred barricaded themselves into the Faculty of History.
In a manifesto read out, they condemned the State's extreme action in Catalunya in its desperate attempt to stop the October 1 referendum, and stated that there was 'no turning back now'.
The referendum process, students say, 'cannot be stopped' and is 'the only democratic solution'.
Chanting, 'Votarem' ('We will vote'), 'this happened with Franco too', 'catalanes get stuff done', and 'Els carrers seran sempre nostres' ('The streets will always be ours'), they marched through the square and onto campus where a lock-in was staged all day.
Two biomedicine students at the UB, Alba Elías and Laura Zeballos, spoke to left-wing national daily newspaper 20minutos and explained they were 'occupying the university' in 'defence' of the referendum because 'the circumstances demand' this action.
“They're violating our rights as citizens, and our future depends upon it, so we're trying to force them to listen to us,” Laura and Alba explained.
“We want to show that dissention can be peaceful, that's why we're staging a 'revolution with a smile' – we want a free State that is not oppressive.”
Another 3,000 students staged a similar protest in Girona, further north, calling for their right to 'be able to freely express the desire for democracy'.
They marched from the Dean's office on campus through to the regional government's outpost in Girona, and the Dean himself, Sergi Bonet, read a manifesto calling for the right to democracy 'respecting all ideological opinions'.
Prior to the demonstration, Girona University (UdG) categorically condemned 'any type of psychological or physical aggression' against 'people and their attempts to impose solidarity and tolerance above any other considerations'.
On the penultimate working (and teaching) day before the referendum, students are planning a mass exodus from class to express their 'disgust' at the 'Franco-esque repression' on the part of the national government run by president Mariano Rajoy.
Rajoy has called for the High Inspector of Education – a type of OFSTED which covers compulsory, further and higher education – to open an inquiry into the student lock-ins and protests, as well as strikes in schools reported on Friday.
Head teachers in several schools in Catalunya warned parents they would be cancelling classes and taking pupils to the on-street demonstrations in favour of the referendum.
And students, professors and school teachers are not the only ones to draw a parallel between the late dictator's 40-year régime and the actions seen recently on the part of the national government – Catalunya's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, has dubbed Rajoy 'the guardian of Franco's tomb'.
Photograph by student Carla Mercader on Twitter
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THOUSANDS of students staged the first of what is set to be a series of lock-ins in Barcelona and Girona Universities on Friday, and are calling for everyone to 'empty the classrooms' next Thursday against the central government's 'Franco-esque repression'.
Over 3,000 undergraduates filled the Plaça Universitat in Barcelona, outside the UB's main building, and several hundred barricaded themselves into the Faculty of History.
In a manifesto read out, they condemned the State's extreme action in Catalunya in its desperate attempt to stop the October 1 referendum, and stated that there was 'no turning back now'.
The referendum process, students say, 'cannot be stopped' and is 'the only democratic solution'.
Chanting, 'Votarem' ('We will vote'), 'this happened with Franco too', 'catalanes get stuff done', and 'Els carrers seran sempre nostres' ('The streets will always be ours'), they marched through the square and onto campus where a lock-in was staged all day.
Two biomedicine students at the UB, Alba Elías and Laura Zeballos, spoke to left-wing national daily newspaper 20minutos and explained they were 'occupying the university' in 'defence' of the referendum because 'the circumstances demand' this action.
“They're violating our rights as citizens, and our future depends upon it, so we're trying to force them to listen to us,” Laura and Alba explained.
“We want to show that dissention can be peaceful, that's why we're staging a 'revolution with a smile' – we want a free State that is not oppressive.”
Another 3,000 students staged a similar protest in Girona, further north, calling for their right to 'be able to freely express the desire for democracy'.
They marched from the Dean's office on campus through to the regional government's outpost in Girona, and the Dean himself, Sergi Bonet, read a manifesto calling for the right to democracy 'respecting all ideological opinions'.
Prior to the demonstration, Girona University (UdG) categorically condemned 'any type of psychological or physical aggression' against 'people and their attempts to impose solidarity and tolerance above any other considerations'.
On the penultimate working (and teaching) day before the referendum, students are planning a mass exodus from class to express their 'disgust' at the 'Franco-esque repression' on the part of the national government run by president Mariano Rajoy.
Rajoy has called for the High Inspector of Education – a type of OFSTED which covers compulsory, further and higher education – to open an inquiry into the student lock-ins and protests, as well as strikes in schools reported on Friday.
Head teachers in several schools in Catalunya warned parents they would be cancelling classes and taking pupils to the on-street demonstrations in favour of the referendum.
And students, professors and school teachers are not the only ones to draw a parallel between the late dictator's 40-year régime and the actions seen recently on the part of the national government – Catalunya's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, has dubbed Rajoy 'the guardian of Franco's tomb'.
Photograph by student Carla Mercader on Twitter
Related Topics
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