Jordi Cuixart, in his proclamation of the Gràcia festivities: "We will do it again"

Jordi Cuixart, the president of Òmnium Cultural pardoned after spending more than three years in prison for his involvement in the illegal independence referendum, this Friday was the town crier who started the festivities in the Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona. Cuixart recalled in his speech - that only the representatives of entities and political parties could witness live in the Plaza de la Vila de Gràcia due to the limited capacity required by the anticovid measures - to associations and neighbors and repeated that their ideas remain intact: “Personal reasons remain, even if the road lengthens, because these are the solid reasons and motivations that constitute the strength of our people, on the fringes of the dead ends of political life. If each one thinks about what motivates them to fight, we will do it again ”.

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• Jordi Cuixart will be the town crier of the Gràcia festivities, in Barcelona

After the proclamation of Cuixart, it was the turn of the mayor, as the highest representative of the city, to address a few words to those gathered in the Plaza de la Vila. Soon the boos and hisses began. Ada Colau justified herself: “Don't worry, I'll be very brief. Let me say a few words of thanks ”. But the whistles kept getting bigger. "Democracy and the main festival is also freedom of expression and listening," she warned, visibly moved. It was then that Cuixart approached the microphone again and tried, with his intercession, to stop the boos: “We all love each other very much and this is about adding, of shared struggles. After three years and eight months in prison, I want to ask you one thing. Listening is what Spain does not want to do with us because it is afraid of the word. Ada [referring to Colau],Eloi [referring to the councilor of Gràcia, Eloi Badia who was also booed]… we are part of the same town. Let's not allow ourselves to be divided because what the Spanish State would like is to divide us. Long live Gràcia and long live free Catalonia ”.

It was of little use, as the boos continued.

The first mayor described the imprisonment of the president of Òmnium as a "great injustice" and thanked him for his presence as a town crier.

The proclamation was highly criticized by the PP and Ciudadanos groups in the Barcelona City Council, who denounced the election of Cuixart, considering that he is not a town crier who represents all citizens.

The president Òminum also recalled in his speech those who died from the covid and those who are coping with the disease.

He recalled the health workers and politicians fled from justice, especially the former culture minister Lluís Puig.

Cuixart went from one place to another in his proclamation. He reminded the "people of Afghanistan who are victims of fanaticism and the interests of world powers." And he listed how from a young age he began to frequent the entities of Gràcia. “In prison we received many letters from the neighborhood. With Sánchez, who is also from Gràcia, we entertained ourselves by locating the senders' streets. Because that happens in Vila, that the more you get to know it, the more you get hooked, and if you move away, you feel like coming back, very difficult to explain ”, he highlighted.