Catalonia is experiencing a Diada between Illa's plan to "center" the community and the secessionist struggle.

The High Court of Justice's ruling on Catalan in the education system and Junts' rejection of the workday reform mark the start of the day.

Catalonia is celebrating its second Diada since Salvador Illa (PSC) became president of the Generalitat (Catalan government) and the pro-independence bloc entered the opposition.

The day is celebrated with conflicting messages. Thus, Illa took advantage of the traditional institutional speech held on the eve of the celebration to call for "centering" the community and advocating for increased self-governance, making explicit reference to compliance with the law.

In response to these remarks, the PSC's deputy leader, Lluïsa Moret , made it clear that a change of era has been consolidated, where the important thing is "responding to the country's problems." Among them, she emphasized, is social cohesion.

The Socialist leader said this during her participation in the floral tribute to Rafael Casanova in downtown Barcelona. She emphasized that the holiday should serve to foster reunion and make it clear that it is a day "for everyone and by everyone," and not just for a certain segment of Catalans.

For this reason, he asserted that it is a good opportunity to defend the pillars of Catalan identity, among which he cited culture and, "very especially," language .

This reference was made the day after the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) annulled the decree protecting the use of Catalan in the education system, a decree the Catalan government will challenge. On this point, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), the pro-independence parties, and En Comú Podem (Common People's Party) closed ranks.

However, in other aspects, there is no unity. This will be evident this Thursday afternoon, as ERC will organize its own rally outside of those organized by entities such as the Catalan National Assembly (ANC).

The split comes at a time when the independence movement is in opposition and has lost popular support, as reflected in the latest barometers from the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO). This is a very different situation from exactly ten years ago, when the now-defunct CDC, ERC, and independents ran in regional elections that they defined as "plebiscitary" and in which they pledged to declare secession. The Catalan Parliament did so unilaterally in October 2017, although no country in the world recognized the leap into the void, and the Generalitat (Catalan government) was taken over by the state.

Eight years later, its promoters remain fully committed to returning to this path. "We Catalans urgently need our own state, not one that impoverishes us through plunder," said Junts Secretary General Jordi Turull, the day after his party defeated one of the government's flagship measures: the reduction of the working day.

This is something the unions criticized during the floral offering. Belén López, the general secretary of the Workers' Commissions of Catalonia, stated that they will continue fighting "without stopping" to make the measure a reality. Meanwhile, Camil Ros of the UGT (United Left of Catalonia) accused the neo-convergents of going "against the majority sentiment" of Catalans and also wanted to remember Palestine.