If you're in Barcelona tomorrow, Sept. 11th, or elsewhere in Catalonia, you can be a participant of a very special day for us Catalans and other local residents: LA DIADA, the National Day of Catalonia. As always, everybody is welcome to join and enjoy the activities.
Background in a nutshell
Contrary to what it might seem, Sept 11th is not a festival or a celebration of joy but it is, instead, a commemorative day, a day of remembrance, reflection and also self-determination and, most importantly, a day of reclaim for many Catalans. On Sept 11th, 1714, after a ferocious 15-month siege of the city, the Catalan armies, and militias defending Barcelona had to capitulate to the Spanish and French armies to end the massacre to the civil population and to prevent the annihilation of the city.
This was one of the last episodes of a war started in 1701, known as the Spanish Succession War, resulting from a claim to the throne of the Spanish kingdoms, the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castille, by the House of Bourbon to the heirless Charles II from the House of Habsburg. Some statesmen across Europe regarded a dominant House of Bourbon (France) as a threat to European stability, jeopardizing the balance of power and soon enough two sides were created. One of them was spearheaded by the Crown of Aragon -lead by the House of Barcelona- and with the support of the powerful Austro-Hungarian empire, alongside England, Portugal, Scotland, the Dutch Republic, Prussia, and the European houses of Savoy and Hanover. On the other side, the Crown of Castille alongside France and the house of Bavaria and the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.
The war ravaged Europe and saw numerous battle fields across the continent. In a sense, this was the first true WW in which the most powerful empires of the world at the time were involved, preceding WWI for 200 years. The result of the war deeply changed the physiognomy of Europe and completely re-drew its territories giving way to a large portion of the Europe we know now. In the Iberian Peninsula -the focus of the struggle- the changes were dramatic as the two contenders, the Crown of Aragon (a sort of confederacy of kingdoms and territories formed by Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands) and the Crown of Castille fought to the finish. With the defeat of the Catalan capital, Barcelona, the finale of the very successful 700 years old sort of confederacy, the Crown of Aragon, came to an abrupt end. In 1716, a vengeful Philip the Fifth, heir of the House of Bourbon, swiftly moved to annihilate the remains of any resistance, political, cultural or otherwise by suppressing the institutions, universities, privileges, and the ancient charters of almost all the areas that were formerly part of the Crown of Aragon thru the infamous Nueva Planta Treaty. This forceful unification of all the territories in the Iberian Peninsula -except Portugal which had won its independence in 1640... and Gibraltar, which was ceded to the United Kingdom as the result of the peace treaties- gave birth to the Kingdom of Spain, as it's known today.
As a visitor...
From a visitor point of view, Sept. 11th in Barcelona is an opportunity to see at first hand the claim of the Catalan people for their roots, their heritage and their future in a family-oriented day full of patriotic flower offerings, cultural activities (ie. Castellers, folk music...), historical reenactments and also political rallies. La Diada is always celebrated in a festive environment in which Catalans from all over Catalonia come to Barcelona to enjoy and express their pride and in which everybody: residents, migrants and visitors alike are welcome to join. For a peek on a previous Diada, see this video from 2014.
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