València (EFE).- The civic procession of the Senyera on October 9 has resumed the usual route through the city of Valencia this year, once the restrictions imposed by the covid pandemic or by urban works have been overcome, in an atmosphere of normality and festive, where there was no shortage of bands and marching bands playing festive music.
After being suspended in 2020 due to covid and limited to an institutional act in the City Council, and the layout of the Plaza de la Reina reform was modified in 2021, the solemn transfer of the Senyera returned in 2022 to the ‘traditional route, through the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, San Vicente, Plaza de la Reina and Calle de la Paz to the Parterre, to return to the town hall through Pintor Sorolla y Barcas.
Applause and cheers as Real Senyera passes
With a large police deployment and a security cordon along the entire route, the civic procession proceeded normally, with applause and cheers as the Real Senyera passed, an atmosphere that was only altered by minority groups extreme right and hotheads who, from time to time, reprimanded the authorities of the left, who govern the city council and the Generalitat.
At noon, and while the bells rang from the town hall clock and the ordinance salutes were fired, the Senyera was lowered completely vertically from the balcony of the town hall and received at street level by the vice-mayor and Compromís adviser, Sergi Campillo, who was the banner bearer throughout the tour.
In the first part of the march, Campillo was escorted by the general secretary of the city council, Hilario Llavador, and councilors Maite Ibáñez (PSPV-PSOE), Marta Torrado (PP), Fernando Giner (Citizens) and José Gosálbez (Vox) , who, as bearers of the acorns, were relieved by other mayors in the various sections of the civic procession.
Behind the Senyera were the authorities, including the president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig; the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó; the president of Les Corts, Enric Morera; the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant; the government delegate, Pilar Bernabé; members of the Valencian government and military authorities in the region.
In front of the regional banner were councilors from the city council, regional and provincial deputies, parliamentarians from Congress and the Senate, institutions and organizations such as the Valencian Language Academy, cultural societies such as La Rat Penat and the main falleras of Valencia, Carmen Marín and Nerea López, with their courts of honor.
When the Senyera reaches the Parterre, and in front of the equestrian statue of Jaime I, founder of the Kingdom of Valencia, six laurel wreaths donated by the Tribunal de las Aguas, Ateneo Mercantil, Societat Coral El Micalet, Royal Academy of Valencian Culture, have been placed Lo Rat Penat and the City Council of Valencia.
Autonomy Status Anniversary
At the end of the tour, the mayor stressed that this October 9, in which, in addition to the entry of Jaime I, the fortieth anniversary of the Statute of Autonomy is celebrated, it is time to “claim that Valencia is a capital that needs more investment in railway infrastructure”, such as the promotion of the Mediterranean corridor, the improvement of Cercanías trains and the passage tunnel, and more investment in metropolitan transport.
Ribó highlighted the “normality” in which the civic procession took place, in the logical deviations, and even more so when municipal and regional elections loom on the horizon, a period “in which the differences are accentuated” between the different parties.
For his part, Ximo Puig assured that October 9 “is a day of coexistence and harmony, and although there are differences of being and feeling, we must all move forward. A lot has been accomplished (in 40 years of autonomy) but we still have a lot to do.
One of the tense moments of the civic procession took place in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, in front of the statue of Vinatea, where supporters of the far right were concentrated, among them the lawyer José Luis Roberto (from Valencia 2000) and citizens who were waving Phalanx flags and giving the fascist salute, while shouting at left-wing politicians, whom they called “terrorists”, shouting “you have no forgiveness” and shouting “no on the 20-30 agenda.
Right in front of them, other groups of citizens, with Compromís banners, applauded the passage of the authorities and sang festive songs.