A demonstration in favour of the "Catalan Republic" is to be held at 7pm this evening in Palma's Plaça Major. It has been organised by different groups, such as the OCB (Obra Cultural Balear), who have appealed to citizens to go along and express their support for what goes further than just a demand for Catalonian independence; there is also the issue of Majorcan sovereignty.
Jaume Mateu is the president of the OCB, an organisation that has been in existence since the early 1960s and which promotes Catalan culture. He believes that it is "outrageous" that people in the Spanish state cannot vote to decide their future in a democratic and peaceful way. He has expressed his solidarity "for all Catalans who want to vote on 1 October (the day set for the Catalonian referendum), however much there are those who wish to prevent this in an undemocratic way".
Also present at this evening's demonstration will be Cristòfol Soler. In the 1990s he was briefly the president of the Balearic government. He was, and this might sound strange, a member of the Partido Popular. He says that there are reasons for discontent in the Balearics, such as the poor financing treatment that the islands receive from the national government. In recent times, Soler notes, there have been referendums in Europe which have led to the creation of new states. "Why should Catalans be any different?"
As far any drive towards Balearic independence is concerned, the organisers explain that each region is different. The Catalans are at a stage that has been long been in the development. "They have gone through a long and complex process that is about to come to its culmination."
* Some 200 people took part in the rally. Politicians included members of Més, such as Toni Reus and, at the end of the rally, the mayor of Palma, Antoni Noguera.