Those of us who lived first hand in the referendum on 1 October in Catalonia returned to our homes with a precious treasure: the brain told us that we had seen in the front line one of those revolutions read in the history books; what confirmed the heart was what we felt inside, like an emotional earthquake, which we have led for days with us to our homes, to our friends, to work and not rarely to our dreams. We went back with the referendum syndrome, raping those we saw and felt.

If so many of us had lived through it, what would the true protagonists of that revolution feel? Besides pride and joy, it's a huge force. They were the subjects of this revolution and, in addition, they emerged victors: in vows, in legitimacy and in the story.

After listening and reading thousands of times “They will not” – from a comment in the tertulians with a tone of contempt and joke to Mariano Rajoy’s most cruel threatening accent – Catalan independence made a referendum based on three pillars: one, having a clear independence project; two, the people’s strength, the organization between citizens and institutions and peaceful resistance; three democratic instruments.

10 October

Only in this way could the cold water raft which the Catalan independence movement received at the door of Parliament at 19:30 on 10 October be understood. Everything that happened in the previous nine days meant that the door could be opened to such a confusing situation, but no one who came to defend the proclamation of independence would think it was going to be so great.

It started to cook from 2 October. After 1 October, the results of the electronic count could be officially approved on Monday or Tuesday, and two days later, at least by the Referendum Act, on Thursday or Friday, declared independence. But it was not done, in large international areas, especially in Europe, the repression of Spain left its image in decline and the peaceful resistance led to the rise of Catalonia.

The declaration of independence was agreed on Monday and, on the pretext of the referendum and the Transitional Act, the Constitutional Court suspended the plenary session. In the exercise of his powers, President Carles Puigdemont asked for his appearance the following day, taking another rabbit out of his hat, which was expelled.

Confusion reigns

But the largest rabbit took it out in Parliament on the afternoon of 10 October. Catalonia was prepared to proclaim its independence, and in the streets of Barcelona the expectation could be felt. Parliament, guarded as never by the Mossos, was not to protect the Parliament from ultra-unified citizens; there was talk of the possible arrest of Puigdemont and Parliament’s plans included the possibility of some parliamentarians spending the night there; Parliament’s workers were transferring sofas and beds to Parliament. Whatever happens, over 1,000 journalists, 300 of them foreigners, who were in Parliament, witnessed these events, including ARGIA, which writes these lines.

Puigdemont's speech was going to start at 18:00 in the afternoon, but it was announced that it would be delayed an hour after the time came. All kinds of rumours spread quickly through those corridors, difficult to avoid the spoil with the wires of the television cameras. Puigdemont was going to declare his independence, and then he was going to leave some time for dialogue and negotiation, especially with regard to Europe, where Spain is not. And when the time came, as usual in him, he accepted the order of the referendum that he had launched at the heart of the well-organized speech: “Let Catalonia be an independent state in the form of a republic.”

Applause on the street, enthusiastic citizens, so long waiting for this moment… and a few seconds later a blow: “With the same solemnity, the Government and I call for the withdrawal of the declaration of independence.”

From there, despair, confusion and pessimism spread throughout the independence movement, especially in the early hours. There were already cracks in the massive walls of the past, and people were afraid of the state of the favorite weapon, the unit, which until then had allowed them to make the revolution.

A declaration of independence yes or no?

We do not yet know whether independence was actually declared or not. I myself interpreted no, in the first few days, after listening to and reading various media, people and messages from Catalonia. But most likely it's wrong, because every day it's reinforced that the hidden weapon is Puigdemont's ambiguous computation, and that you can interpret both, yes and no, by your finger. Its text gives the possibility to do so, but in addition, after the plenary session, Junts Pel Yes and the Cup signed in another room of Parliament the text of the Declaration of Independence, and if this is the true text of the declaration of independence, it leaves no room for doubt.

Yes, independence was proclaimed, many say: “Who says that for that you have to vote in Parliament?” or “The Massiah himself proclaimed it in 1934.” ERC Secretary General Marta Rovira has also just said that “citizens vote for independence, not Parliament”, so once they won the yes it was enough for Puigdemont to say it and it was over.

On the other hand, some sectors of the CUP, the ANC and, among others, the PDeCAT or ERC are constantly pressing on it by saying that “once and for all” proclaim independence or “lift the suspension”.

No one knows what will happen, but it has already been assumed that the Spanish Government is going to implement Article 155, despite the fact that for many it is already in force. How is it to be implemented? It's not clear at all, but with a lot of repression, or at least that's what you want to sell. The violence that was used in the referendum, above all, was a threat to the future.

And, of course, repression gives him a lot of fear, because the history of Spain gives us time to do so. Article 155, which has never been put into effect until now, is very uncertain, gives the government that wants to implement it whenever it wishes, but nowhere does it explain the degree of repression that must be used to bring a million or two million people out of the street. Or what is done if only a part of the Mossos says that they are going to obey the Generalitat, or how a government is dissolved and another is put in if the citizens comply with the mandates of the former and not those of the latter.

Defence of the Republic

Spain trusts in the threat of its strength, which calls the “rule of law”; Catalonia in the unity of independence and in the strength of the citizens. What is going to prevail? The strength of Spain or the legitimacy of Catalonia?

No one knows that, but one might think that independence has to close the cracks open within it as soon as possible on 10 October. That being closer to the spirit of the referendum revolution, they will more tenderly defend independence, because, apart from that, the situation will become even more complicated for Puigdemont. That the presence of rabbits in the hat is excellent, but when repression increases, in addition to rabbits, lehendakari will need other instruments. Some put their hope in Europe at the moment, others in the proclamation of independence, not least because that gives them the tools of defence.

Puigdemont has asked Rajoy for another two months, above any kind of conversation that comes to him. With this reply, the Government of Spain seems determined: Article 155. And if so, Puigdemont can trigger the independence that had been abandoned. And the Catalans will have to decide again how to continue to defend the Catalan Republic. In any case, the words that Nelson Mandela has said and which have become so well known are worthy of consideration: “Let your decisions be a reflection of your hopes and not of your fears.”