More than ten thousand demonstrators braved the rain and marched festively in defense of the Ebre Delta
More than ten thousand demonstrators gathered yesterday in Sant Jaume d’Enveja (Montsià) and walked to Deltebre (Baix Ebre) to protest the Spanish Government’s Hydrology Plan of the Ebre Plain. Despite the rain, the demonstration was well attended and had a activist, steadfast, festive feeling to it. Called by the Platforma en Defensa de l’Ebre (Ebre Defense Platform, PDE), as well as local residents, there were demonstrators from all over the country, members of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), members of Parliament, representatives from all of the political parties except the Partido Popular (PP).
The demonstration began punctually at 11:30 in the morning, while the rain still fell. The head of the march was formed by members of the PDE, with blue t-shirts, and the well known knot symbol against the diversion of the river. The demonstrators marched three kilometers amid blue flags and Catalan independence starred flags, and signs against Minister Cañete, between Sant Jaume d’Enveja (Montsià) and Deltebre (Baix Ebre).
“The River is Life” (Lo Riu és vida) and “The Ebre is not for sale” were two of the most popular signs. The group’s spokesperson, Manolo Tomàs, explained at the beginning of the march that yesterday’s demonstration was the start of a new era of struggle that was much more complicated, once again, and asked for support from everyone and from the whole country, so that “we don’t feel so alone”. “We won’t give in, just as we haven’t given in ever, to this imposition that comes from the Spanish Government,” he said, and he called Minister Cañete’s hydrology plan a “military march on the Lands of the Ebre”.
He said that a hydrology plan is necessary today which preserves the future of the delta and of the lands of the Ebre and which stopped stoking the speculation and pressure on the Ebre “which just can’t support that much”. According to Tomàs, the social mobilizations like Sunday’s, the processes that the PDE will open in the Spanish courts soon and the actions with the European Commission will “stop this plan, there is no alternative”.
“Why don’t they make hydrology plans like those for the Tagus’?”
Several political leaders participated in the demonstration, joined behind a banner that read “For Catalonia, we must save the Delta”. There was, for example, Ramon Tremosa, Member of the European Parliament for CiU, who asked why they haven’t developed similar hydrology plans for the Tagus (which runs in and between Spain and Portugal). The answer is simple, he said, “Because Portugal is a state and Catalonia is not. If we had our own state, we could better protect the future of the ecological flow of the river and the future of the Delta.” Josep Maria Terricabras, who is the ERC candidate in the European elections, said that “the battle over the water is a battle for life” and he offered unconditional support to the struggle in favor of the river. Joan Herrera, ICV leader also spoke and promised that this battle would be won with consistency. And David Fernàndez, of the CUP, said that the citizens had demonstrated that they were strong enough to stop plans like this one, and that they would do so again.
Germà Bel, for his part, said that with a minister like Miguel Arias Cañete, it was obvious that we needed a new state, from top to bottom, “because with people like Cañete, it’s clear that we can’t change a thing”.
The high point of the march came as the demonstrators crossed over the Ebre River on the Passador Bridge, which joins the two municipalities. At the end of the demonstration, in the Deltebre City Hall, the manifesto of the Plataforma was read, there were musical performances, and the local Xiqüelos and Xiqüeles del Delta human tower team raised a four story high human pillar with a banner that rejected the Spanish Government’s plan.
Vilaweb
