October’s streets and squares
Just a few weeks after the referendum, a number of towns have named streets to commemorate the vote
One of the first images of police brutality to be seen on October 1 was at the polling station in Sant Julià de Ramis (Girona), where it was expected that the President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont would vote. The day following the vote, the town council held a special plenary session to condemn the brutality and unanimously agreed to change the name of the square where the pavilion that was used as the polling station is located and which from that meeting, is now officially the Plaça de l’U d’Octubre. The decision has already been made effective from the end of this week when a plaque was unveiled that certifies the new name.
The example of Sant Juilà has been followed in these last weeks in different locations, most of which in response to incidents of police violence that affected the population of the towns themselves. In doing so, the towns wish to to honour the victims and the spirit of the day by renaming to the places where they voted on October 1
This is the also the case of Sant Carles de la Ràpita, where the police charge left 80 people injured, according to the town council, which this week has approved the square adjacent to the pavilion where the referendum took place, to be renamed in commemoration. In Mont-Roig del Camp, where the Guardia Civil intervention was one of the last of the day, they will also rename the street where the Antoni Ballester school is located, a similar story in Mora la Nova outside the pavilion. Llagostera has renamed the park where people gathered, and Solsona has opened a participatory process to change the name of the polling place, at present unnamed.
Other towns and cities have renamed streets or squares previously commemorating the Spanish constitution.