Residents in the Nou Barris district laid on a welcome for Plaça de la República with a festive event to celebrate the new name for the square, which will become official in the coming weeks. Festive acts took place in what is currently Pl. Llucmajor, where the monument to the republic stands for the values of freedom, equality, and fraternity.

Events got under way with a parade from Pl. Virrei Amat to the Jardinets de la Segona República, taking in C/ Pi i Molist, Pl. Madres de Mayo, Pg. Verdum, and what is to be the Plaça de la República. When the entourage arrived, nearly a thousand people unfurled a republican flag above the sculpture.

One of the new elements for the event involved the unveiling of a plaque explaining the history of the statue by Josep Viladomat dedicated to the republic and the medallion dedicated to Mayor Pi i Margall, which forms part of the monument that dominates the site. The plaque is part of the project to promote the history of the district, ‘Relligant Nou Barris’ [reconnecting Nou Barris], an initiative by Projectart and the Historical Archive of Roquetes-Nou Barris.

A wreath was laid at the monument to those who defended the republic, currently in the Jardins de la Segona República.

The First Deputy Mayor, Gerardo Pisarello, remembered the advances in freedom and rights during the republic and called for the collective construction of what belongs to everyone. “We can’t wait around for a latter-day republicanism. We’re here to say we’re done with fear”, stated the Deputy Mayor. Pisarello also defended a “new citizens’ republicanism, a collective project by a Barcelona which has historically been such”.

The Councillor for Nou barris, Janet Sanz, affirmed that through acts such as this one “we correct a debt with republican values”, noting “we construct the republic every day with the values of freedom, equality and fraternity”.

The festival summed up the Tenim República programme of acts to commemorate the republic which have been taking place in the city since Thursday, coinciding with the 85th anniversary of the proclamation of the Second Republic, on 14 April 1931.