Commemorations

Commemoration of the events of 1714 began at the end of 19th century with a cultural and elegiac nature. The first act of the commemoration was a mass held at the church or Santa Maria del Mar on 11 September 1886. It was called by the canon of the cathedral of Vic, Jaume Collell, who was a priest, journalist, poet and writer. Due to the fact it was prohibited by the authorities, the mass was held without a sermon and was criticised by Republicans for its religious character. It was attended by important public figures of the Catalan nationalist movement of the time, like the playwright Àngel Guimerà and the politician Valentí Almirall.

In 1888, while taking advantage of the opening of the World Fair, a statue dedicated to Rafael Casanova was erected in front of the Arc de Triomf. It was to become a meeting point for all types of demonstrations, like the one a year later against the enactment of the Spanish Civil Code which shelved the Catalan Civil Code. In 1891 the group Foment Catalanista, linked to the Unió Catalanista, organised the traditional vigil honouring the martyrs of 1714 in Barcelona and soon after many others cities and towns joined in with events like masses, talks, speeches, theatre, concerts and poetry readings. Starting in 1894, a procession was added that ends at the statue honouring Rafael Casanova, where flowers are offered.

It was not long before the first clashes occurred. In 1896, the newspaper Lo Regionalista was seized after publishing a special edition to commemorate the Diada and during the commemoration in 1901, 30 people were arrested at the Rafael Casanova statue following clashes with the Lerrouxistes that wanted to boycott the event. Three days later, on 15 September, 12,000 people protested against the arrests, changing the nature of the commemoration to one of political activism.

In 1905 the Lliga Regionalista joined the organising committee, which called on the population to participate. The government prohibited this and fined the organisers. In 1923 the celebration took on a more massive character, with hundreds of floral tributes, though there were also injuries and arrests. With the coup d'état and dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the celebration was suspended.

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The statue in memory of Rafael Casanova was set up in 1888 in Passeig de Sant Joan in Barcelona, but was moved to Ronda Sant Pere in 1914.

The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic lifted the ban on the Diada celebration, which had acquired a more institutional and political nature over the years while gaining wide popular support at the same time.

The Diada celebrations of 1931 and 1932 were marked by the Núria Statute, while in 1934 they centred on conflicts caused by the farming contract law and in 1935 on the imprisonment of President Lluis Companys and the suspension of Catalan independence. The celebrations held during the Spanish Civil War were very anti-Fascist and in 1937 even the CNT union participated.

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The 1932 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, known as the Statute of Núria, was the first statute of autonomy drafted in Catalonia and was promoted by the then President of the Generalitat, Francesc Macià. It was approved on 9 September 1932 and revoked by Franco in April 1938.

The Franco regime chased the Diada underground, as the commemoration was prohibited and the monument to Rafael Casanova was removed. Although some propaganda actions were taken in the 1940s, especially by the National Front of Catalonia (FNC), it was not until 1964 that a committee was formed to commemorate the Diada. The 11 September committee was created for the 250th anniversary of the events of 1714 and was able to gather 3,000 people in Barcelona, even with the opposition of the government that arrested seven people and fined others.

In 1970 the Week of National Vindication was held from 11 to 18 September on the initiative of the Coordinator of Political Forces in Catalonia (CFPC).

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One of the most legendary celebrations was that of 1971 when a group of activists of the FNC (Catalan National Front) placed two loudspeakers in a room of the Duval hotel in Barcelona and broadcast a message from the Front and the music of Els Segadors (The Reapers, the Catalan National Anthem).

The first legal celebration of the Diada after the dictatorship was a massive gathering in the town of Sant Boi de Llobregat on 11 September 1976. It was called by the Assemblea de Catalunya assembly, which brought together Catalan political parties and unions. The next year was the first celebration allowed in Barcelona, in which a million people gathered under the motto "Liberty, Amnesty and Statute of Autonomy", with almost instant political consequences. On 29 September the Generalitat of Catalonia was reinstated, and on 15 October the law of political amnesty was passed. The new Catalan Statute of Autonomy was approved in 1979.

The Diada was officially proclaimed Catalonia's National Holiday in 1980. The official ceremonies include the traditional flower offering at the Rafael Casanova statue, which was recovered, and a public reception.

Since 2004, the official reception has given way to the institutional act of the National Diada of Catalonia, which is open to the public and organised by the Generalitat and the Parliament of Catalonia in Barcelona's Ciutadella Park.

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The Diada de l'Onze de Setembre (Catalan National Day) was declared Catalan National Holiday in 1980 with the recovery of the democracy (Law 1/1980, of 12 June).