Thousands have marched in Barcelona calling for Tabarnia, a fictional province in Catalonia, to break away and remain part of Spain. The pro-unity protest was blasted for trivializing the Catalan independence movement.
Several thousand people rallied through the streets of the Catalan capital Barcelona on Sunday, in a protest mocking the region’s independence bid.
Demonstrators called for the imaginary province of Tabarnia to declare independence from Catalonia, if the troubled northeastern region secedes from Spain. The fictional name is formed from the names of Catalonia’s two main provinces, Barcelona and Tarragona, where support for separation from Madrid is lower than in other parts of the region.
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Sunday’s rally saw self-declared Tabarnians wave banners with the slogans, “The joke is over” and “Tabarnia free of populism,” while a tune they claimed was the fake province’s national anthem played. The demonstrators also waved the fictional Tabarnia’s proposed four-square flag, as well as many flags of Spain and some Catalan flags.
Among those tweeting images and video footage was journalist and political scientist Julia Regue.
Holding up a mirror
“We want to be the mirror of what the independence movement is all about,” protest organizer Miguel Martinez told Spanish daily El Periodico.
“You can see the absurdity of their arguments. This is not the moment to put up borders, but to be united across Spain and the European Union.”
The pro-unity protest drew support from Spanish aristocrat and businessman Alvaro de Marichalar, who told the national newspaper ABC: “These protests are necessary … so that people realize there is political manipulation at all levels, that’s where separatism comes from.”
He blamed corruption for the strong outpouring of nationalism in Catalonia and in other autonomous regions of Spain.
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