Lleida has once again been sidelined by the independence movement in the organization of the Diada. The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, and the other pro-sovereignty organizations have announced that the September 11 demonstrations will be held simultaneously in Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta, deliberately excluding the capital of Segrià as a gathering point. The chosen slogan—“I AM HERE. WE ARE HERE. For the present and the future: INDEPENDENCE”—rings hollow for the people of Lleida, who, for yet another year, see how the separatist movement organizes its annual rally without counting on the fourth provincial capital of Catalonia. While the sovereignist leaders focus their efforts on the Barcelona-Girona axis and southern Tarragona, Lleida grapples with real problems of public insecurity, deteriorating public services, and an economic crisis that cares nothing for flags.
A Decentralized Model That Forgets Ponent
The organizing entities—ANC, Òmnium, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), the Council of the Republic, Intersindical, and CIEMEN—have opted to maintain the decentralized model launched two years ago, but the geography of the protests reveals a clear hierarchy. Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta will host the only three official marches, while Lleida, with its considerable population and historical tradition of pro-independence mobilization, remains off the map. According to SEGRE, the decision is not based on logistical or capacity criteria: simply put, the capital of Segrià is not a priority for those designing the separatist strategy.
In Barcelona and Amposta, there will be two separate columns—Present and Future—converging at the destination point, while Girona will host a single column. The organizers have justified the thematic axes as a response to “fiscal plunder,” the “deterioration of public services,” the “housing crisis,” the “infrastructure collapse,” and the “linguistic emergency.” Yet the citizen of Lleida wonders: where does the emergency of neighborhoods like La Mariola, Cappont, or El Secà de Sant Pere fit in, where insecurity and lack of investment are everyday realities?
The ANC’s Discourse: Independence or Nothing
ANC President Josep Vila has stated that a massive, cross-cutting mobilization is needed to once again place independence at the center of the political agenda, stand up to the Spanish state, and force pro-independence parties to re-establish this goal as a priority. The declaration, reported by La Mañana, reveals the internal rift within the movement: the pro-independence parties—Junts, ERC, and the CUP—have been at odds over strategy for months, while the ANC attempts to force a radicalization of the discourse.
But the question lingering in Lleida is a different one: what sense does it make to mobilize for independence when the independence movement itself ignores one of Catalonia’s most important provincial capitals? The answer lies in the facts: Lleida is not strategic for separatism because its social base is more moderate, its economy is more tied to the agri-food and logistics sectors—which depend on the Spanish market—and because its pro-independence voters, though they exist, are not enough to justify the logistical deployment of a large demonstration. In other words: sovereignty pays Lleida little heed.
The Contrast with Local Governance: Larrosa and the Mequinensa Protocol
While the pro-independence organizations decide to overlook Lleida, Mayor Fèlix Larrosa (PSC) has opted for a cross-border cooperation agenda that, though praiseworthy, does not address the underlying problems. Recently, Larrosa signed a cooperation protocol with Mequinensa, a municipality in the Aragonese Franja, to promote joint cultural and tourism projects. The initiative is positive, but it contrasts with the lack of advocacy before the Catalan government over the neglect of key infrastructure, such as the Lleida-Pirineus train station, delays in constructing the fourth phase of the Arnau de Vilanova Hospital, or the precariousness of public transportation in the metropolitan area.
The local pro-independence movement, for its part, has remained silent. The councilors from Junts and ERC on the Lleida City Council have issued no public statements regarding the city’s exclusion from the Diada, suggesting they accept the decision of their respective leaderships. The CUP, which has always defended a “grassroots” form of independence, has also not protested. The result is that Lleida becomes a no-man’s land: neither does the PSC strongly advocate for it before the Catalan government, nor does the independence movement include it in its mobilization agenda.
The Real Impact for the Citizen of Lleida
The exclusion of Lleida from the Diada is not a mere organizational detail. It has concrete consequences for residents of Lleida who feel Spanish and who see how the independence movement focuses its efforts on the Barcelona-Girona axis, leaving Ponent as a secondary territory. Public insecurity, with Interior Ministry data placing Lleida among the Catalan capitals with the highest crime rates per capita, does not appear on the axes of the pro-independence protest. The housing crisis, which particularly affects young people and working-class families, is also not a priority for those decrying “fiscal plunder.”
Meanwhile, the Mossos d’Esquadra prepare for a security deployment that, as every year, will mobilize thousands of officers in Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta, while Lleida is left with the routine of a city that is not newsworthy to the independence movement. The Diada will once again be the celebration of a few, organized for a few, and benefiting a few. And Lleida, the fourth capital, will keep waiting for someone to put it on the map.
Lleida, Marginalized by the Independence Movement: A Statement of Intent
The decision by the sovereignist organizations to exclude Lleida from the Diada is not a logistical error or an oversight; it is a statement of intent. The independence movement has decided that its future lies with Barcelona, Girona, and southern Tarragona, while Lleida is relegated to a secondary role. For the people of Lleida who feel Spanish, this marginalization is an opportunity to reflect on what model of Catalonia they want: one that ignores them or one that takes them into account.
On September 11, as the pro-independence columns march through the streets of Barcelona, Girona, and Amposta, Lleida will be there, working, studying, dealing with its real problems. Perhaps now is the time for the people of Lleida to start asking whether it is worth continuing to invest emotional and political energy in a movement that, by all accounts, has left them behind. The answer, as always, lies at the ballot box and in the streets. But for now, the independence movement has spoken clearly: Lleida is not in its plans.