Catalonia election: In town where flame of independence was lit, people hope Thursday's vote can free Spain from past

Most other towns and cities in Catalonia have some sign of unionist loyalties. On the eve of the region’s crucial election, that’s not the case in Arenys de Munt

Scenes from the unofficial 2009 referendum in Arenys de Munt where far-right protesters tried to stop a vote on self-determination (AFP/Getty)

Eight years, four months and seven days ago, Arenys de Munt held a referendum on whether Catalonia should secede from Spain. Of the town’s population, 99.6 per cent turned out to vote, and out of that 96.2 per cent voted “yes”, 2.3 per cent “no” and 1.1 per cent left the ballot paper blank.

Arenys is not well known. The main reason people may have heard about it is that nearby Arenys de Mer is the hometown of Chelsea and Spain footballer Cesc Fabregas. The turnout for the secession vote was 2,659 and the result was dismissed by the government of Madrid as irrelevant.

But, as Catalonia votes in an election on Thursday seen in Spain as the most important since the time of Franco, Arenys de Munt is held up by nationalists as the place where the fuse was lit in the current passionate struggle for independence.

Following the Arenys vote on 13 September 2009, another referendum was held in the town of Sant Jaume de Frontanya on 12 December that year. This was followed by similar polls in hundreds of municipalities in Catalonia, with Barcelona following in April 2011 and a million people protesting in the city that summer as the Spanish government continued to reject the voting as unconstitutional.

“Other towns talked about holding a referendum eight years ago, but there was a lot of nervousness about what the Spanish government would do. Madrid told us holding the vote would be illegal, we will be prosecuted, but we decided to go ahead anyway,” recalls Josep Sanchez Camps, chief of operations at Arenys Council.

Josep Sanchez Camps says the row over independence has exposed how Spain is ‘not a democracy like the rest of the EU’ (Kim Sengupta)

“It may seem big talk for a small town, but the feeling was that someone needed to make that first move towards getting freedom. We have seen what has happened since then - that there is this great desire for independence in Catalonia and also exposing the fact that Spain is not a democracy like the rest of the European Union. The ghost of Franco is very present, the culture of intolerance and repression is present.”

Most other towns and cities in Catalonia have some posters, placards and flags proclaiming unionist loyalties. It is hard to find any in Arenys; the streets and walls are full of Catalan colours and yellow ribbons in solidarity with Catalan political leaders languishing in Spanish jails. There are also pictures of Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president who had fled to exile in Belgium and faces arrest if he returns home.

Sitting at the La Puntaire café on the town’s main street, Frances Roca wants to point out that the use of force and incarceration is nothing new in confrontations with Madrid: “My grandfather was put in prison by Franco’s junta in Barcelona. He was a socialist: this was two years after the civil war and that is what they did to people who opposed them. The government has a history of not liking opposition.”

The streets of Arenys de Munt are full of Catalan colours and yellow ribbons in solidarity with Catalan leaders in Spanish jails (Kim Sengupta)

Mr Roca, 65, retired after a working life in banking, voted for independence in the 2009 referendum and intended to back the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) in the impending election. “We took the vote all those years ago very seriously and this election had its beginning with what happened here eight years ago,” he says. “Catalonia needs to break away, we have been sending our very high taxes to Madrid and we get nothing back. There may be some economic problems for two or three years, but after that we will be alright, I am sure.”

Families from other parts of Spain have been attracted to the relative affluence of Catalonia over the years and the government of Mariano Rajoy will depend on them to ensure that the separatists do not get a majority.

Mr Roca, however, holds that may not work for Madrid: “My grandfather, the one sent to jail by Franco, was from Aragon. But I consider myself a Catalan and that is the case with a lot of people whose origins are in other parts of Spain. People want change; we saw that in Britain with Brexit and we are seeing it here.”

​Caterina Soler, who left Arenys 10 years ago, attended the last campaign rally of Mr Puigdemont’s JxCat party in Barcelona on Tuesday evening. The Catalan president gave a speech on video from Brussels to rapturous applause from his followers. “Will he come back? Yes, why not? If a vote in my small town can have such a boost for independence then anything is possible,” says the 37-year-old management consultant. “We feel that history is with us.”

Mr Camps of Arenys Council moved to the town from Badalona, a place which was in the news after its mayor, Xavier Garcia Albiol, of Prime Minister Rajoy’s Popular Party, used the slogan “Cleaning Badalona” in reference, it was viewed, to its large immigrant population.

“That is the mentality of the PP. They used immigrants to sell their intolerant populist policies and now they use the same kind of terms for Catalans and those seeking independence,” he states. “This use of populism is very common with Madrid. They react viciously when challenged, they do not want debate. Spain needs to change. Independence will not only free Catalonia, it will also help free Spain from its past.”