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Catalan municipalities to lobby 548 mayors worldwide in pro-independence awareness campaign

Councillors blast Spanish Constitution as “prison for democracy” which “prevents Catalans from freely deciding their own political future”

Author: AMI
The board of the Catalan Association of Pro-Independence Municipalities (AMI) has launched an awareness campaign in which it intends to lobby mayors worldwide on Catalonia's struggle towards independence. Altogether, AMI expects to send letters to 548 mayors "without interference from the Spanish government" in order to amplify the message of the pro-independence movement.

AMI was established in 2011 and brings together Catalan local councils with the goal of promoting the independence of Catalonia. Some 83% of Catalan municipalities —but not including capital city Barcelona—, 90% of county councils and all 4 provincial councils are AMI members.

According to AMI sources, the letters started to be sent Monday 5 December. Mayors of 195 capital cities and major cities in Europe, Oceania, America, Africa and Asia will be receiving them in the first place. In a second phase, the letters will be sent to 353 cities and towns —mostly in Europe— twinned with Catalan municipalities.

Besides sending the letters, Catalan mayors plan to further lobby their counterparts under the framework of twinning activities. "Mayor-to-mayor contact" gives "proximity" and helps understand "the political situation in Catalonia as it is perceived from the municipalities," AMI President Neus Lloveras explained.

As a support to the lobbying task, AMI has released some leaflets on Catalonia and its independence process in six languages (Catalan, Spanish, French, English, Italian and German). The brochures explain where Catalonia is, its appetite for self-rule, and the refusal from the Spanish government to any moves towards Catalan sovereignty.

AMI says at least 300 Catalan municipalities to work in Constitution Day

According to AMI, councillors from at least 300 out of 948 Catalan municipalities are working today despite the fact that the Constitution Day is marked as a holiday on December 6 in the whole of Spain. The councillors, mostly belonging to pro-independence parties, seek to symbolise that the Spanish Constitution is a “corset” and “a prison for democracy” which “prevents the Catalan people from freely deciding their own political future”, according to an AMI statement.

(This article builds upon a story released by Lliureimillor.cat, a Catalan online news site with which Nationalia has a partnership agreement.)