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Title: Report from Barcelona Author: Eric Chester Date: June 17, 2018 Language: en Topics: Barcelona, catalan independence, reportback, The Utopian Source: Retrieved on 11th August 2021 from http://utopianmag.com/archives/tag-The%20Utopian%20Vol.%2017.4%20-%202018/report-from-barcelona/ Notes: Published in The Utopian Vol. 17.4.
Barcelona has once again become a center of radical politics. After
decades of brutal repression under Franco, the Left has returned and the
city is alive with political activity. Of course, the Left of 2018 is
not the same Left that controlled Barcelona during the first months of
the Spanish Civil War.
Media coverage of the situation in Catalonia has focused on the struggle
for independence. There is no doubt that this has become a bitter
confrontation. Those who support independence point out that there had
been an agreement under which Catalonia was granted considerable
autonomy. Yet when the Catalonian parliament approved progressive
legislation, such as a ban on fracking and an end to bull fighting, as
well as the levying of taxes targeting the affluent, the Spanish
Constitutional Court stepped in to nullify the legislation. It was this
decision that fuelled the upsurge in support for independence.
Nevertheless, popular opinion remains split on the issue, with a
substantial segment of the populace continuing to hold the belief that
Catalonia should remain a region within Spain. In this context, the push
for independence has reached a stalemate, as Spanish courts continue to
arrest and detain independence leaders on the charge of sedition. The
lack of unity in popular opinion has prevented the supporters of
independence from organizing the mass protests, occupations and general
strikes that would be required to force the Spanish government to accept
a binding referendum.
For now, the broad coalition supporting independence has shifted the
focus of its efforts to a defense of democratic rights. Signs calling
for the freeing of political prisoners can be seen everywhere in
Barcelona. A cluster of tents in the main square has been erected as a
symbolic occupation in support of those being held in jail. Whatever
one’s position on Catalonian independence, there can be no justification
for the dictatorial acts of the Spanish government. Furthermore, the
people of Catalonia have the right to determine for themselves whether
they should remain a part of Spain or form an independent state.
Yet the struggle for independence is only one of several movements that
are able to mobilize huge numbers of protestors. These demonstrations
are able to bridge the divide arising for the call for independence. We
arrived in Barcelona a few days after International Women’s Day, March
8. On that day, a rally brought 500,000 people on to the streets of
Barcelona. Men were encouraged to bring their children, thus assuming
parental responsibility. Throughout Catalonia, even in small towns,
there were similar rallies on March 8. Indeed, International Women’s Day
was celebrated by mass rallies in much of Spain.
The protests in Barcelona were coordinated by a network of grass-roots
community based feminist organizations. While organizing the march and
rally, feminist organizations began calling for a one day general
strike. Both of the anarchist unions, the CGT and the CNT, were
supportive, but the two largest unions, the UGT and the CCOO, were
uncooperative. Finally, under pressure from their women members, both of
the mainstream unions agreed to support a two-hour general strike on
March 8, a considerable victory for grass-roots activists.
Political activity takes many forms in Barcelona. During our time there,
tens of thousands demonstrated in opposition to a cost of living
increase for pensioners that fell far short of the rate of inflation.
These protests reflected the enormous popular discontent with the
drastic austerity measures imposed by the European Union and the
International Monetary Fund in the wake of the global collapse of a
decade ago.
While the economy sputters, housing prices in Barcelona continue to
soar. In part, this has resulted from the many tourists flocking to the
city. In addition, neighborhoods in the city center have been gentrified
as the very wealthy opt to own an apartment in this ancient and
beautiful metropolis. Most of these flats remain unoccupied for much of
the year as working people find themselves crammed into less and less
space. Community organizations have mobilized to oppose gentrification
and anarchist groups have been active in blocking evictions. Signs
declaring that Barcelona can not be bought are highly visible in the
contested neighborhoods.
Barcelona is a city with a revolutionary past and a radical present. It
is a place of ferment where new ideas are welcomed and conservative
traditions no longer hold sway. From this mix of social movements, a new
political party has emerged, the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), bringing
together activists from a range of political backgrounds, both socialist
and anarchist.
CUP developed out of grass-roots community organizations that first
presented candidates at a municipal level. Since 2012, it has fielded
candidates for the Catalonian legislature. At the last election in 2017,
the party received 4.5% of the total vote and elected four of its
members to the Catalonian parliament. Still, the CUP continues to uphold
one of its core values by functioning as a decentralized organization in
which a great deal of power remains at the local level. Electoral
politics remains a secondary concern to movement building in communities
and at the workplace.
General policy guidelines for the CUP for Catalonia are set every six
months at an assembly in which every active member can vote. Currently,
there are two thousand members who are active at the local level, most
of whom participate at the assembly level.
The CUP is committed to a socialist feminist perspective and it works
hard to ensure that women fully participate in the party. As a result,
the percentage of women in the party has doubled, increasing from about
twenty percent of the total membership to nearly forty percent. Of
course, CUP women were active in organizing the International Women’s
Day demonstration and pushing for a general strike that day, but the
commitment to feminism goes beyond this. There are strict term limits on
those holding office and the party makes sure women are fully
represented among those authorized to speak to the media. Furthermore,
CUP members in the Catalonian parliament are held strictly accountable
to the party’s guidelines as determined by a democratic process.
CUP views itself as a party committed to a set of principles grounded in
the need for a revolutionary transformation of society. For this to be
more than rhetoric, the organization needs to formulate a program that
pushes the limits of the possible within a global capitalist system. CUP
calls for an independent Catalonia that will be independent of the
European Union and NATO. It also stands for the repudiation of enormous
government debt incurred during the economic collapse of the last
decade. CUP would also bring the banks into the public sector without
any compensation, pointing to the vast subsidies given the financial
sector during the crash. These demands are the start of a transitional
program, although one that needs further development before it can
provide the basis for a socialist transformation of society.
During the last year, the CUP has worked within a parliamentary
coalition with the two larger, mainstream pro-independence parties. At
the same time, the CUP sought to pursue its own socialist agenda.
Obviously there is a tension between these two strategies. Recently the
party has openly broken with the independence bloc by refusing to
support a joint candidate for president of Catalonia. In doing so, the
CUP stated clearly that it would focus its energies on building grass
roots movements for fundamental change and would not limit its efforts
to support for a broad coalition demanding the restoration of basic
civil liberties.
The CUP has its problems but nevertheless it provides an interesting
model for anti-authoritarian leftists in the more economically developed
countries. It proves that a viable organization of radicals can be built
in a post-industrial society. While linking itself to the past,
especially the inspiring examples of worker self-management created
during the Spanish Civil War, the CUP understands that it needs to take
into account the distinctive consciousness of the current period.
Socialism cannot be built in one country, but rather it requires a
revolutionary movement that crosses national boundaries. The CUP needs
to strengthen its ties to groups with a similar perspective in Europe
and throughout the world. Perhaps this time the radical Left can build
an international that is not dominated by one organization, but instead
acts as a true federation of organizations committed to a common goal,
the revolutionary transformation of capitalist society.