A year on from Catalan referendum, tensions still simmer over independence from Madrid

September 16th, 2018. Published by The Irish Times

Anna, a 42 year old with tattooed arms and aviator sunglasses, is standing on a bridge looking down on the AP7 motorway between Tarragona and Barcelona. On the railings in front of her a large yellow banner, in view of the motorists below, states: “Catalonia, new European state.”

“Coming up on to the bridges is a way of making ourselves visible, because a lot of foreign people, a lot of tourists, drive along here,” she says.

About 25 people, young and old, are spread along the bridge. Some are brandishing the estelada, the red-and-yellow-striped flag with a single star that symbolises Catalan independence. Others are waving excitedly as cars approach, many of which beep their horns. Pop music pumps out of a large portable speaker and a teenage girl is passing around vermouth served in plastic cups.

This is a Committee for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), one of dozens of small groups that have sprung up over the last year or so to defend what they believe is a mandate for Catalonia to break away from Spain…(See article)