Assemblea Nacional Catalana
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| Focus | Catalan independence |
|---|---|
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Area served
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Catalonia |
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Members
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80,000 |
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Key people
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Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol Carme Forcadell |
| Website | assemblea |
The Assemblea Nacional Catalana ("Catalan National Assembly"; ANC by its Catalan acronym) is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain; secondarily, it also promotes irredentistic claims to the Catalan Countries.
Its current president is Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol. In January 2015, it claimed more than 80,000 members, of which 40,132 were full-paying members (fee paying) and 39,946 were signed up as volunteer collaborators. By 2016, though, some sources cite a dip in paying membership.
The ANC has 10 regional subdivisions which are represented on the national board as well as professional sectorial groups and 37 foreign branches around the world.
The origin of the organization was the National Conference for the Catalan State (Conferència Nacional per l'Estat Propi), held on April 30, 2011 in Barcelona, in which 1,500 people participated. A Permanent Council and the interim secretariat were elected at this conference.
The formal incorporation as a civic association was held on March 10, 2012 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. in which the statutes, internal workings, and road map to independence were approved. In April 2012, Carme Forcadell was chosen as President of the ANC, while Carles Castellanos was elected vice-president, Llorenç Sotorres was treasurer, and Jordi Martínez was elected secretary.
On June 8, 2013, the ANC held elections in which Carme Forcadell was re-elected president. Jaume Marfany was elected vicepresident, substituting Carles Castellanos, Jordi Martínez remained as secretary and Oriol Sallas replaced Llorenç Sotorres as treasurer.
In May 2015 Jordi Sanchez i Picanyol replaced Carme Forcadell as president of the ANC.
The regional chapters of the ANC periodically organize a series of events in their respective areas with respect to the independence of Catalonia in preparation for the Catalonian independence referendum in 2014.
At the end of June, 2012, the so-called "March toward Independence" begun in Seu Vella (Lleida). After a series of festive, symbolic, and protest events, this march would culminate on September 11 with a massive march on Barcelona, with the slogan "Catalonia, new state in Europe". It was a historic day for the separatist camp, both for the number of people in attendance as well as the markedly pro-independence tone of the march, never before seen in such a well-attended event (estimates of the crowds range widely, from 600,000 people quoted by some media, statisticians such as Llorenç Badiella from the Autonomous University of Barcelona or the delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia to 1.5 million according to Catalan public sources such as Barcelona's Municipal Police or Catalonia's Department of the Interior, with a maximum estimate of about 2 million according to the organizers)
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