National Day in Catalonia

In the US and many other countries we pause, in one way or another, today to reflect upon the atrocity of September 11, 2001. While the Catalans also acknowledge the horrible day 9/11/2001 is, they also go about celebrating their holiday known as Diada Nacional de Catalunya. 

It a day of national pride for Catalans. Curiously, it's sort of the opposite of an Independence Day as it "commemorates Barcelona’s surrender on 11 September 1714 to the Bourbon monarchy of Spain, at the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession." (Source: Lonely Planet) There is info about on Wikipedia here: 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Catalonia

The movement for an independent Catalunya is alive and well. It is very much celebrated today in Barça from what I suspect is a peaceful act to be acknowledged as a separate nation, as the local culture really is about respect and embracing all cultures as part of their own.

All over town wrought-iron [and other forms of] balconies are draped with the Catalan flag. As seen in the snap taken yesterday:

They were even unveiling a flag on the Sagrada Familia yesterday (snap below in case you didn't notice it on the blog from yesterday):

You see people adorned in the flag as a capes, hats, sashes, and even wearing the FC Barça away jersey from last year that that carried the red and gold stripes of the flag. Below is a shot of Plaça Catalunya from earlier today:

As you can see from the image above, tourists are out walking around trying to get a sense of what the day means to locals. (Others are just plain unhappy about the inconvenience.)

A snap just taken from the hotel room balcony of a man wearing the flag as a scarf:

Although it's an area filled with turistas, we been warned that the rain will not stop today's events. Most of the area businesses are closed or will close around 3 PM local time. Traffic is being diverted and there is plans to create a human chain. So far, most major and local businesses have shuttered but the Subway (the American sandwich franchise) across the street is still open.

But all in all it doesn't seem to be completely cut off as shown in the two following snaps taken from the room balcony:

The sky has started to get a little brighter and the rain has stopped. Noise from the speakers at concert in the Plaça have just started. 

I will post an update if things get a little more colorful. 

For those of you reading who live in independent states, cherish your independence.