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Two opposing protests will coincide this Saturday in Plaça Sant Jaume
This Saturday 22 August, Plaça Sant Jaume will host two demonstrations of completely opposing character, called just one hour apart. Anti-fascist groups have called their supporters for 18:00, while Save Europe Act, a campaign promoted by the European far right, announces its event for 19:00 in the same space.
It will be Save Europe Act's first mobilisation in Spain. The movement advocates so-called “remigration”, a policy that proposes the return of migrant populations and which its promoters link to the defence of European “ethnic continuity”. The campaign is set to continue one week later, on Saturday the 29th, with another gathering in Madrid.
The response in Barcelona is organised by groups such as the Coordinadora Antifascista de Barcelona and Som Antifeixistes. Under the message of an anti-racist Barcelona, they have called for people to gather in Sant Jaume an hour earlier to show their rejection of the ultra movement's presence in the city.
The coincidence of time and place puts the spotlight on one of Barcelona's most sensitive political spaces. The square lies between the City Council and the Palau de la Generalitat and also receives a constant flow of residents, tourists and workers crossing the Gòtic, so any large gathering may disrupt movement through the nearby streets.
The municipal government has also publicly rejected the Save Europe Act gathering. The first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, has stated that the movement is not welcome in Barcelona, although she has recalled that the City Council does not have the power to prevent a demonstration and that this decision lies with the Generalitat.
The European campaign behind the event tried to register an initiative with the European Commission this summer. Brussels rejected its processing in July, considering its content manifestly contrary to the values of the European Union.
The gathering also comes at a time when immigration occupies much of the Spanish and European political debate. In Barcelona, that discussion will take physical form this Saturday in a square accustomed to demonstrations, tributes and gatherings of every kind.
For those planning to pass through the Gòtic during the afternoon, the most difficult point will be the area around Sant Jaume from 18:00 onwards. Two ideologically opposed groups intend to occupy the same setting with barely sixty minutes between them, a coincidence that turns Barcelona's institutional heart into one of the places to watch this weekend.