Opposition parties stage symbolic protest
Members of the Catalan Parliament from Junts, ERC, Comuns and the CUP held up anti-fascist banners on Wednesday 23 September 2026, shortly before President Salvador Illa addressed the full chamber. The demonstration was organised in response to actions by the far-right party Aliança Catalana, which the participating groups accuse of promoting fascist-aligned discourse. The banners carried the slogan: "The espadrille or the swastika, you choose", referencing a historic anti-fascist image from the Spanish Civil War. The espadrille, a traditional Catalan shoe, symbolises Catalan identity and resistance to Francoist fascism.
Criticism of Aliança Catalana
Parliamentary sources cited two recent incidents involving Aliança Catalana as prompting the protest. First, a social media post by the party that referenced a famous wartime anti-fascist poster with the message "We've already won!". Second, Aliança's support for Vox in opposing a formal reprimand for referring to former Catalan president Lluís Companys as a murderer. Companys, executed by Franco's regime in 1940, is widely regarded as a symbol of Catalan democratic resistance.
PSC abstains from protest
Representatives from the PSC-Units did not join the demonstration, stating that the timing was inappropriate given the imminent appearance of President Illa to discuss education policy, specifically Catalonia's performance in recent PISA tests. However, PSC sources affirmed their commitment to opposing hate speech and fascism, explaining their decision as a matter of parliamentary timing rather than political disagreement with the protest's message.
We are fully committed to fighting hate speech and fascism, but we believed this moment was not appropriate for a symbolic act.
A spokesperson for Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, later stated that one of its MPs, Rosa Maria Soberana, had made an error in voting during the dispute over the reprimand for Vox.
Reported by VilaWeb, Racó Català.
