October 2017 in Catalonia: The anarchists and the procés

Abstract

The circumstances surrounding the call for a referendum on national independence in Catalonia in October 2017 led to high levels of collaboration between two, at first sight, unlikely partners: anarchists and Catalan independentists. Unlikely as this alliance may seem, it was well grounded on a number of factors: first of all, in the State response to the independentist challenge—the massive repression and the blockading of institutional channels to process nationalist demands pushed both movements closer in opposition to the central government; and secondly, in the prolonged interactions (in specific regions and industries) and engagement in joint solidarity activities between anarchists and segments of the Catalan left who had been influenced by the bottom-up approach of the indignados movement. Finally, this collaboration was also rooted on a long history of mutual engagement between anarchism and sectors of Catalan nationalism that, while not unproblematic, provided deep roots to this dialogue.