Josep Poblet, former mayor of Vila-seca and former president of the Diputació de Tarragona, the provincial council, delivered Cambrils’ institutional address for the National Day of Catalonia at Parc del Pescador on Friday 11 September 2026.
For Cambrils residents, the event combined the annual civic ceremony with references to the town’s own history, centred on the Portal del Setge and the siege of 1640. Poblet also referred to the town’s demographic growth, international character and economic potential.
Mayor Oliver Klein opened the ceremony by calling the date an occasion to reflect on history and its interpretation. He said Poblet had helped Cambrils advance its university ambitions through his role as president of the Social Council of Universitat Rovira i Virgili, or URV, the public university serving Tarragona and surrounding areas.
Portal del Setge at the centre of address
Poblet’s address, titled Catalonia: memory, freedom and future, examined history, identity and the use of collective memory in planning for the future. He described the Portal del Setge as a place carrying both “massacre and memory”, referring to the effects on Cambrils of the 1640 conflict.
“Catalonia is, above all, its language, the language of everyone, but it is also culture, institutions and collective consciousness. Catalonia is, ultimately, the desire to continue existing as a nation with its own identity.”
He said communities need both memory and a project for the future, and argued that Cambrils should turn its potential into greater productivity, knowledge, added value and prosperity.
Poblet cited the Cambrils Mediterranean Diet and Health Chair, developed with URV, as an example linking knowledge, research, health, gastronomy and external projection. He also called for shared territorial leadership, institutional stability, dialogue and projects based on common interests.
Music, human tower and floral tribute
After the address, Klein presented Poblet with a personalised print by Cambrils artist David Callau. The Coral Verge del Camí performed Muntanyes del Canigó, Les flors de maig, Molt lluny d’aquí and Els Segadors, the Catalan national anthem, which much of the audience sang standing.
The Xiquets de Cambrils castellers, a human-tower group, then built a four-person pillar. The ceremony ended with floral tributes at the Rambla 11 de Setembre monument from the Ajuntament de Cambrils, local political groups, the town’s ceremonial representatives and neighbourhood and community associations, including groups from the Estació and La Llosa districts.
Reported by revistacambrils.cat, infocamp.cat, radiocambrils.cat, parlament.cat, diarimes.com, radio onda cero, diaridetarragona.com, diaridigital.urv.cat, DiariTots21, Revista Cambrils.
