Arcadia Spain

The National Day of Catalonia is celebrated every year on September 11 to commemorate the defeat of 1714 in the War of Succession, when Barcelona, ​​with an army defender of the Archduke Carlos de Austria, gave up before the troops of Felipe V de Borbón. The Bourbon victory led to the abolition of Catalan institutions after the promulgation of the Nueva Planta New Decree in 1716.

September 11 has become a day of defense of the rights and freedoms of Catalonia and in recent times has gained more prominence, since in 2012 began to convene that day multitudinous pro-independence demonstrations.

It is considered that the first celebration of the Day dates back to 1886, when various associations of Christian Catalan organized a mass to remember the deceased during the defeat of 1714.

In 1888, on the occasion of the Exposicion Universal, the statue of Rafael Casanova, (the highest military and political authority of the city  when the Bourbon troops entered the Catalan capital) was inaugurated in Barcelona. The monument, is since then and until today the epicenter of the celebrations and it is a tradition that it receives floral offerings on September 11 of every year.

A particularly  Diada was on 1977, after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, the second one that could be officially celebrated after it was forbidden during the Franco dictatorship. In Barcelona there was a massive demonstration, under the motto 'Llibertat, Amnistia i Estatut d'Autonomia'.

Other acts

During the Diada, in addition to the independence demonstrations of recent years and floral offerings to the monument of Rafael Casanova, it is also traditional to bring flowers to his tomb, located in Sant Boi de Llobregat.

Also, on September 11 of each year, thousands of people go to the Fossar de les Moreres, next to the church of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, ​​where the defenders of the city were buried during the battle against the Bourbon troops in 1714.